I've been getting interested in data mining lately. I'm beginning to understand just how pervasive the practice is, and how data mining now plays a fundamental role in commerce. It's always helpful to understand terms. Here's dictionary.com on data mining: "the process of collecting, searching through, and analyzing a large amount of data in a database, as to discover patterns or relationships." But if you want a fuller, more nuanced explanation, try this UCLA site. You'll find out that data mining is as important to supermarkets as it is to the NBA. If it's a contemporary venture of any significant size and it's engaged in commerce - not to mention national security - data mining is of interest.
My curiosity about data mining was deepened as I finished reading The Circle by Dave Eggers. The novel takes place largely on the campus of a fictional company named The Circle. It's scope and mission seem to parallel Google to a remarkable degree. The Circle makes all sorts of products that help the consumer be more "social." (Of course their definition of "social" might be a bit different than yours or mine. To The Circle, being social means sharing interests, concerns, travels, relationships, etc. with others, both friends and strangers.) The cameras, personal recorders and software products are not only technologically advanced and elegant in design; they also gather data. The Circle's core mission is to become the world's repository of personal data. There are characters to follow and story lines to grab your attention, but beneath the narrative is an understanding that companies today, most especially Google, Facebook and Twitter, have become masters at gathering and utilizing personal data. (The Circle was reviewed in the NY Times on 11/1/13.)
Google, Facebook and Twitter are interesting for two reasons. One is their success. They have become hugely profitable and important in large part on the basis of data mining. What helps them stand apart from so many other digital companies is they not only gather data; they also sell it or use it themselves. Most other companies - and here we're talking about thousands, tens of thousands of companies - gather data and sell it to data aggregators. These are companies that gather, combine and analyze data from multiple sources.
Recently (3/9/14), 60 Minutes did a story on these data aggregator companies. These data companies were termed "data brokers." It's a sobering look at the degree to which virtually all of us relinquish personal information unknowingly. Take a look if you have about 15 minutes to spare: The Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information. It's a very interesting story.
Want to know more about how your data is being mined? Then you'll be interested in this story about Acxiom, one of the big names in the data mining field. Tools are available to allow yo to see for yourself how your web browsing and other online behaviors are being quantified for potential profit.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Learning can continue in spite of the weather
I’m writing this over the week-end following back-to-back snow days on February 13 and 14. It’s the middle of February and as we all know, winter seems to have hit us with special intensity this year. The prolonged cold wears you down, and successive snow storms wear you out. And we’ve had enough snow days and delayed openings to consider additional school calendar adjustments.
I would propose that as a faculty, we come together around the idea that class learning can proceed uninterrupted even if students are not on campus. We would make the commitment to utilize online learning tools in every class so that lessons can be presented and students can be engaged in genuine learning activities. These activities would likely not be the same if all were at school, but they would be curricularly-based and of value to student learners.
What are the tools at the disposal of our faculty if weather dictates remote learning? I’d like to mention a few and encourage sharing among colleagues. In each division, there are teachers who have found online resources that work well. Share them with your division colleagues.
Our primary tool in all divisions is our class site on KnightSite. Each class site offers a variety of ways to offer material to students. Documents can be posted for students to download. For instance, if you want students to write an essay on a topic, a Word document might have the writing prompt and a few background links to check. Or a science teacher might include a chart of data that needs to be analyzed. Similarly, video can be posted as well, either as a link or as an embedded file. There’s a tremendous amount of video source material available to teachers; two rich sources that come to mind are Discovery Education and Khan Academy.
A teacher could easily create his or her own video if material is to be presented. A very easy technique is to talk in front of a video camera (for many, this means your phone) and then upload the video to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Provide the students with the link and they can watch you just as they might do in class. A different sort of video can be created using software such as Screencast-o-Matic. This software is hosted by a website and very easy to use. It allows you to record what’s on your desktop, in effect making your computer monitor into a video. Talk using a computer’s built-in microphone (standard in laptops, tablets and phones) and now you’ll have a soundtrack with your visuals.
I believe I mentioned in a recent email that the Topics tab provides a convenient way to house a lesson. The lesson can be clearly identified. Downloads, videos, photos, links and even a chat feature (called Discussion) allow for lots of curricular flexibility. Topics can be customized to be appropriate for learners, K-12.
Snow days are ideal for project work. Students often have uninterrupted hours to fill and an activity that engages their interest by having them do something creative is ideal. This is particularly true for younger students. One site that can help is Glogster. Essentially, this site allows students to create online posters that can include photos, video and text. A graphic-design minded editor allows students to play with shapes, colors, fonts, etc. to create something visually interesting. Glogster is a social media site so privacy settings are important. But with some advanced work, teachers can easily assign, see and share student work.
I would propose that as a faculty, we come together around the idea that class learning can proceed uninterrupted even if students are not on campus. We would make the commitment to utilize online learning tools in every class so that lessons can be presented and students can be engaged in genuine learning activities. These activities would likely not be the same if all were at school, but they would be curricularly-based and of value to student learners.
What are the tools at the disposal of our faculty if weather dictates remote learning? I’d like to mention a few and encourage sharing among colleagues. In each division, there are teachers who have found online resources that work well. Share them with your division colleagues.
Our primary tool in all divisions is our class site on KnightSite. Each class site offers a variety of ways to offer material to students. Documents can be posted for students to download. For instance, if you want students to write an essay on a topic, a Word document might have the writing prompt and a few background links to check. Or a science teacher might include a chart of data that needs to be analyzed. Similarly, video can be posted as well, either as a link or as an embedded file. There’s a tremendous amount of video source material available to teachers; two rich sources that come to mind are Discovery Education and Khan Academy.
A teacher could easily create his or her own video if material is to be presented. A very easy technique is to talk in front of a video camera (for many, this means your phone) and then upload the video to YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Provide the students with the link and they can watch you just as they might do in class. A different sort of video can be created using software such as Screencast-o-Matic. This software is hosted by a website and very easy to use. It allows you to record what’s on your desktop, in effect making your computer monitor into a video. Talk using a computer’s built-in microphone (standard in laptops, tablets and phones) and now you’ll have a soundtrack with your visuals.
I believe I mentioned in a recent email that the Topics tab provides a convenient way to house a lesson. The lesson can be clearly identified. Downloads, videos, photos, links and even a chat feature (called Discussion) allow for lots of curricular flexibility. Topics can be customized to be appropriate for learners, K-12.
Snow days are ideal for project work. Students often have uninterrupted hours to fill and an activity that engages their interest by having them do something creative is ideal. This is particularly true for younger students. One site that can help is Glogster. Essentially, this site allows students to create online posters that can include photos, video and text. A graphic-design minded editor allows students to play with shapes, colors, fonts, etc. to create something visually interesting. Glogster is a social media site so privacy settings are important. But with some advanced work, teachers can easily assign, see and share student work.
You’ll want to work in the education section of the site: http://edu.glogster.com//what-is-glogster-edu/ Here’s how the site describes itself: “Glogster EDU is the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond. We empower educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more. Glogster EDU is so simple to use that now over 7,000,000 people (including students as young as 4 years old) across the planet are reaping the benefits of this amazing system.”
Google Drive is another useful tool for remote learning. It’s an online suite of sites that allows for interactivity, creativity and project-oriented work. Google Drive is a feature of Google that allows users to upload documents, forms, presentations, etc. and then share editing privileges with others. So a group of students, for instance, could work collaboratively on a story, each from their own home. They’d all log-in to the same document and could, in real time, add, critique and edit content. They could build a PowerPoint presentation in the same fashion. (PowerPoint, the name we’re familiar with, is really a Microsoft product. In Google Drive, that type of document is called a Presentation.) One caveat: Google account holders need to be +13 years of age.
Much of what Google Drive offers is very familiar to us. Users can create, edit and share the Google equivalent of Word documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and draw in a Paint-like editor. But Drive separates itself from the familiar Microsoft productivity suite by including the Form option.
By choosing to create a Google Form, users have at their disposal a template to survey or quiz other users. In a Google Form, each question can be set up as a text response, multiple choice, checkbox, choose from a list, a scale, a grid, by date or by time. When your Form is complete, it can be posted on a live web site, can be embedded into another site or sent as a link. Responses to the Form go directly into a spreadsheet that editors can access. The end result is a free, easy-to-use instrument to collect data from others. Teachers can use a Form to find out information from students. Students can create and disseminate a Form as part of an information gathering project.
Here’s an overview of Google Drive: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424384?hl=en
If we want to provide consistent, continuous instruction in the face of school-closing weather, online tools offer a great solution. But they’ll only work if teachers find resources that make sense by grade and content. I’ve offered a few resources to get everyone thinking about the possibilities, but encourage ongoing conversations about online resources that are helpful.
I'm mindful of the fact that online education must be considered in terms of age and content. Many lower school students, for instance, may need parent supervision when using a computer and this may suggest other approaches to out-of-the-classroom learning during inclement weather. That said, I believe all middle school and upper school students can be productive learners at home. And with careful planning and thought, perhaps some lower school students can take advantage of online possibilities as well.
Google Drive is another useful tool for remote learning. It’s an online suite of sites that allows for interactivity, creativity and project-oriented work. Google Drive is a feature of Google that allows users to upload documents, forms, presentations, etc. and then share editing privileges with others. So a group of students, for instance, could work collaboratively on a story, each from their own home. They’d all log-in to the same document and could, in real time, add, critique and edit content. They could build a PowerPoint presentation in the same fashion. (PowerPoint, the name we’re familiar with, is really a Microsoft product. In Google Drive, that type of document is called a Presentation.) One caveat: Google account holders need to be +13 years of age.
Much of what Google Drive offers is very familiar to us. Users can create, edit and share the Google equivalent of Word documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and draw in a Paint-like editor. But Drive separates itself from the familiar Microsoft productivity suite by including the Form option.
By choosing to create a Google Form, users have at their disposal a template to survey or quiz other users. In a Google Form, each question can be set up as a text response, multiple choice, checkbox, choose from a list, a scale, a grid, by date or by time. When your Form is complete, it can be posted on a live web site, can be embedded into another site or sent as a link. Responses to the Form go directly into a spreadsheet that editors can access. The end result is a free, easy-to-use instrument to collect data from others. Teachers can use a Form to find out information from students. Students can create and disseminate a Form as part of an information gathering project.
Here’s an overview of Google Drive: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424384?hl=en
If we want to provide consistent, continuous instruction in the face of school-closing weather, online tools offer a great solution. But they’ll only work if teachers find resources that make sense by grade and content. I’ve offered a few resources to get everyone thinking about the possibilities, but encourage ongoing conversations about online resources that are helpful.
I'm mindful of the fact that online education must be considered in terms of age and content. Many lower school students, for instance, may need parent supervision when using a computer and this may suggest other approaches to out-of-the-classroom learning during inclement weather. That said, I believe all middle school and upper school students can be productive learners at home. And with careful planning and thought, perhaps some lower school students can take advantage of online possibilities as well.
Finally, some recent news about other schools have found ways to utilize
online resources for student learning...
Thursday, January 30, 2014
ISTE Standards (cont.)
In my last post, I wrote about the International Society for Technology Education's standards for student learning. These standards were centered on the central fact that in the 21st century, a new set of learning tools is available to students. These digital tools, be they hardware or software, need to be part of student learning because they have quickly become critical components of economic and social life for so many people.
When learning standards are accepted, it is teachers who are tasked with implementation. But with the new ISTE learning standards, a dilemma presents itself. What if the teachers are not adequately conversant and comfortable with the student learning standards? In other words, with these ISTE student standards, what if teachers don't reasonably understand the digital world they are now guiding students through? Given the rapid ascent of digital tools coupled with a teaching workforce that largely came of age before the onset of the 21st century, this gap between student learning standards and teacher digital knowledge is not theoretical. It can be very real.
To that end, the ISTE has also crafted a set of teacher learning standards for the digital age. These five standards say to teachers, "If you are to be an effective teacher in an era of digital tools, you need to be familiar with the tools and be willing to incorporate them appropriately into classroom instruction." There is an understanding that these digital tools are rapidly evolving, so an important facet of the ISTE learning standards for teachers hinges on professional development. Teachers must be explicit, conscious learners as part of their job.
There are five major categories of teacher performance in the ISTE standards:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
The first category asks teachers to inspire students to learn. This, of course, is what teachers have tried to do since the ancient Greeks began to give shape to formal learning institutions. In fact, in reading through the subtext of this major category, "technological" words like virtual or digital barely appear. What is emphasized, however, is the teacher should model learning. In other words, if teachers are to help students towards optimal learning and creativity, teachers need to be creative learners themselves.
The second category encourages teachers to incorporate technology into classroom learning. Implicit in this category is a re-definition of classroom to include virtual components. For instance, at GSB, each teacher has a class site in KnightSite. The ISTE would see the class site as part of classroom learning. The classroom is no longer defined and confined by the four walls of the room. Now, it moves across space and time by utilizing digital tools. Aside from KnightSite, I see technology as part of classroom learning environments daily. An example from today: I was talking with Brett Mershon about her use of a Google Form to help students assess their understanding of figures of speech. When I asked why she was using a Google Form for a task that could have been accomplished in other ways, she said that students get a little more interested when the instructional tools are varied. I have no doubt she's correct.
The third teacher standard is the most problematic for a number of teachers. It asks teachers to model appropriate uses of digital tools. The explanatory language of #3 above says that "Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society." There's an assumption here that teachers will be better able to effectively use digital tools in the classroom if they embrace digital tools in their lives. This standard suggest teachers can be most effective if they do such things as blog, work with digital audio and visual files, and utilize the internet as their go-to resource for information. I regularly encounter teachers who would challenge this assumption. I even wrote about such teachers in an article that appeared in T.H.E. Journal called "The Digital Resistors" because I think helping these teachers feel more comfortable with technology is important. In my experience, it is true that teachers who avoid digital tools in their personal lives often feel overwhelmed with the technology changes they see in school.
The fourth standard, by contrast, seems like a comfortable fit for virtually all teachers. Here, teachers are urged to keep digital citizenship front and center as new technologies are blended into learning environments. In a way, not much changes here from teacher modeling that dates back many generations. Teachers generally are seen as key adults to help our children learn how to become responsible citizens. Lying, cheating, harassing and bullying have always been anathema to teachers who seek to help young people mature. Yes, the tools to misbehave have changed, but the core issues are essentially the same.
The final standard would also be at home in a listing of teacher standards from a generation past. Teachers must also be learners, and they must develop their professional skills in an ongoing fashion through their careers. But two things do change in the digital age. Because the tools, both hardware and software, evolve rapidly, more frequent professional development is necessary. An older model of a workshop or two a year simply won't be enough. The good news is that the ways in which professional development can occur have expanded as well. Online webinars and MOOCs, for instance, offer free, convenient professional development tools to any teacher. Online information is not only usually very cost effective; it is also not limited by geography. For instance, this spring, I'm taking a course from the University of Texas on how social media is being used by various professions. It's a MOOC. So I'm learning more about an area that will develop my professional knowledge from a professor in Austin, but the whole process will be free and relatively painless.
Want to see the ISTE standards for teachers? Just click on ISTE Standards.
When learning standards are accepted, it is teachers who are tasked with implementation. But with the new ISTE learning standards, a dilemma presents itself. What if the teachers are not adequately conversant and comfortable with the student learning standards? In other words, with these ISTE student standards, what if teachers don't reasonably understand the digital world they are now guiding students through? Given the rapid ascent of digital tools coupled with a teaching workforce that largely came of age before the onset of the 21st century, this gap between student learning standards and teacher digital knowledge is not theoretical. It can be very real.
To that end, the ISTE has also crafted a set of teacher learning standards for the digital age. These five standards say to teachers, "If you are to be an effective teacher in an era of digital tools, you need to be familiar with the tools and be willing to incorporate them appropriately into classroom instruction." There is an understanding that these digital tools are rapidly evolving, so an important facet of the ISTE learning standards for teachers hinges on professional development. Teachers must be explicit, conscious learners as part of their job.
There are five major categories of teacher performance in the ISTE standards:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
The first category asks teachers to inspire students to learn. This, of course, is what teachers have tried to do since the ancient Greeks began to give shape to formal learning institutions. In fact, in reading through the subtext of this major category, "technological" words like virtual or digital barely appear. What is emphasized, however, is the teacher should model learning. In other words, if teachers are to help students towards optimal learning and creativity, teachers need to be creative learners themselves.
The second category encourages teachers to incorporate technology into classroom learning. Implicit in this category is a re-definition of classroom to include virtual components. For instance, at GSB, each teacher has a class site in KnightSite. The ISTE would see the class site as part of classroom learning. The classroom is no longer defined and confined by the four walls of the room. Now, it moves across space and time by utilizing digital tools. Aside from KnightSite, I see technology as part of classroom learning environments daily. An example from today: I was talking with Brett Mershon about her use of a Google Form to help students assess their understanding of figures of speech. When I asked why she was using a Google Form for a task that could have been accomplished in other ways, she said that students get a little more interested when the instructional tools are varied. I have no doubt she's correct.
The third teacher standard is the most problematic for a number of teachers. It asks teachers to model appropriate uses of digital tools. The explanatory language of #3 above says that "Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society." There's an assumption here that teachers will be better able to effectively use digital tools in the classroom if they embrace digital tools in their lives. This standard suggest teachers can be most effective if they do such things as blog, work with digital audio and visual files, and utilize the internet as their go-to resource for information. I regularly encounter teachers who would challenge this assumption. I even wrote about such teachers in an article that appeared in T.H.E. Journal called "The Digital Resistors" because I think helping these teachers feel more comfortable with technology is important. In my experience, it is true that teachers who avoid digital tools in their personal lives often feel overwhelmed with the technology changes they see in school.
The fourth standard, by contrast, seems like a comfortable fit for virtually all teachers. Here, teachers are urged to keep digital citizenship front and center as new technologies are blended into learning environments. In a way, not much changes here from teacher modeling that dates back many generations. Teachers generally are seen as key adults to help our children learn how to become responsible citizens. Lying, cheating, harassing and bullying have always been anathema to teachers who seek to help young people mature. Yes, the tools to misbehave have changed, but the core issues are essentially the same.
The final standard would also be at home in a listing of teacher standards from a generation past. Teachers must also be learners, and they must develop their professional skills in an ongoing fashion through their careers. But two things do change in the digital age. Because the tools, both hardware and software, evolve rapidly, more frequent professional development is necessary. An older model of a workshop or two a year simply won't be enough. The good news is that the ways in which professional development can occur have expanded as well. Online webinars and MOOCs, for instance, offer free, convenient professional development tools to any teacher. Online information is not only usually very cost effective; it is also not limited by geography. For instance, this spring, I'm taking a course from the University of Texas on how social media is being used by various professions. It's a MOOC. So I'm learning more about an area that will develop my professional knowledge from a professor in Austin, but the whole process will be free and relatively painless.
Want to see the ISTE standards for teachers? Just click on ISTE Standards.
Monday, January 20, 2014
ISTE Standards
ISTE is The International Society for Technology Education. It's one of the several very large, influential professional organizations that promote and influence technology education. It's reach is global. Like other educational professional organizations, it supports research, hosts workshops and conferences and maintains publications.
The ISTE has also taken a lead in bringing technology professionals together to ask an important question: What are the goals of technology learning for students, teachers and administrators? Significant time has been spent in creating answers to this question, and the result is a set of ISTE Standards that have been published for students, teachers and administrators. These standards get at what are often called 21st century skills. This post will examine the student standards, and in a following post, I'll review the teacher standards.
The student standards are categorized with six separate goal areas.
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts
A closer examination of first goal, "Creativity and Innovation," shows an emphasis on putting technology within the context of creative thinking. The goal is further explained by saying that "Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes through technology." This broad idea is further defined through four specific tasks students should master. Students should be able to apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas. Students should create original work. Students should use models and simulations to explore systems. And students should be able to identify trends and forecast possibilities. In short, one goal of technology learning should be to foster and deepen creativity.
The second goal, "Communication and Collaboration," partners easily and obviously with emerging technologies. In an explanatory sentence, the standards emphasize that "Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others." This second goal strongly suggests we find ways to use social media appropriately rather than dismiss it out of hand. It also suggests that learning need not be geographically confined.
The third goal gets at the processes by which "students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information." This standard, among all the six student standards, is most difficult for many veteran educators to accept. The key roadblock to acceptance, I believe, is the phrase "digital tools." Research and information literacy has evolved very slowly and carefully over centuries of scholarship. Up until quite recently, the accepted means of acquiring knowledge followed prescribed protocols that were highly articulated. The idea of peer review, for example, is a perfect example of traditionally accepted scholarship. Digital tools opened the door for a sea change in how knowledge could be acquired, shared and deemed acceptable. Wikipedia provides a perfect example of this new model. The ISTE firmly believes that students must be conversant with digital research tools but at the same time, the ISTE also emphasizes the need for students to be able to analyze and evaluate the information these tools yield.
"Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making" are listed as the fourth goal. It seems me the key term here is problem solving because critical thinking with resultant decisions have long been articulated as a student learning goal. In the bullet points that follow the fourth goal, it is expected that students will work on "authentic problems." Again, this suggests a departure from past practice. Schools are now explicitly being asked to bring real-world problems into the classroom and teach students how to work on these problems through data collection. There is also an explicit recommendation that digital tools be used in the solving of problems. Considering the worlds of work and academia, it's hard not to include digital tools as a key resource in solving problems.
The fifth goal centers on digital citizenship. It asks that "Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior." For a couple of reasons, this goal will be difficult to achieve. I believe the definition of "legal and ethical behavior" is and will remain a moving target. It easy to forget how new our digital world is. Particularly in the legal realm, issues connected to digital privacy and copyright, for example, are far from resolved. Additionally, the oft-noted gulf between the acceptable practices of younger users vs. older users makes the teaching of citizenship an ongoing challenge. None of this is to say that we do not try to educate students about the importance of legal and ethical digital practices; it simply means we should understand we're working towards a goal that will likely never be met to full satisfaction.
The sixth and final goal, "Technology Operations and Concepts," asks that "Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations." This goal provides a unique challenge to schools because it assumes this learning will occur throughout the school, regardless of grade or discipline. In the explanatory bullet points, it is stated that students should be able to "Understand and use technology systems" and "Troubleshoot systems and applications." There is an implicit assumption here that teachers will be conversant with technology systems and be able to troubleshoot systems. We're not just talking about technology teachers or the technology support staff; we're talking about all faculty. In other words, teachers and administrators need to be reasonably adept at using technology for this goal to be realized. It will simply not be acceptable for educators to declare that "I don't do technology" or "I'm just not interested in learning anything about computers" if this goal is to be realized.
The ISTE standards for students define goals for students that put learning at the center. But they also make a 21st century assumption: that the key toolkit for learning will be digital. Want to know more? Check out the ISTE web site. On the Home page, click on the "Standards" tab to see the complete set of student standards.
The ISTE has also taken a lead in bringing technology professionals together to ask an important question: What are the goals of technology learning for students, teachers and administrators? Significant time has been spent in creating answers to this question, and the result is a set of ISTE Standards that have been published for students, teachers and administrators. These standards get at what are often called 21st century skills. This post will examine the student standards, and in a following post, I'll review the teacher standards.
The student standards are categorized with six separate goal areas.
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts
A closer examination of first goal, "Creativity and Innovation," shows an emphasis on putting technology within the context of creative thinking. The goal is further explained by saying that "Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes through technology." This broad idea is further defined through four specific tasks students should master. Students should be able to apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas. Students should create original work. Students should use models and simulations to explore systems. And students should be able to identify trends and forecast possibilities. In short, one goal of technology learning should be to foster and deepen creativity.
The second goal, "Communication and Collaboration," partners easily and obviously with emerging technologies. In an explanatory sentence, the standards emphasize that "Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others." This second goal strongly suggests we find ways to use social media appropriately rather than dismiss it out of hand. It also suggests that learning need not be geographically confined.
The third goal gets at the processes by which "students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information." This standard, among all the six student standards, is most difficult for many veteran educators to accept. The key roadblock to acceptance, I believe, is the phrase "digital tools." Research and information literacy has evolved very slowly and carefully over centuries of scholarship. Up until quite recently, the accepted means of acquiring knowledge followed prescribed protocols that were highly articulated. The idea of peer review, for example, is a perfect example of traditionally accepted scholarship. Digital tools opened the door for a sea change in how knowledge could be acquired, shared and deemed acceptable. Wikipedia provides a perfect example of this new model. The ISTE firmly believes that students must be conversant with digital research tools but at the same time, the ISTE also emphasizes the need for students to be able to analyze and evaluate the information these tools yield.
"Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making" are listed as the fourth goal. It seems me the key term here is problem solving because critical thinking with resultant decisions have long been articulated as a student learning goal. In the bullet points that follow the fourth goal, it is expected that students will work on "authentic problems." Again, this suggests a departure from past practice. Schools are now explicitly being asked to bring real-world problems into the classroom and teach students how to work on these problems through data collection. There is also an explicit recommendation that digital tools be used in the solving of problems. Considering the worlds of work and academia, it's hard not to include digital tools as a key resource in solving problems.
The fifth goal centers on digital citizenship. It asks that "Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior." For a couple of reasons, this goal will be difficult to achieve. I believe the definition of "legal and ethical behavior" is and will remain a moving target. It easy to forget how new our digital world is. Particularly in the legal realm, issues connected to digital privacy and copyright, for example, are far from resolved. Additionally, the oft-noted gulf between the acceptable practices of younger users vs. older users makes the teaching of citizenship an ongoing challenge. None of this is to say that we do not try to educate students about the importance of legal and ethical digital practices; it simply means we should understand we're working towards a goal that will likely never be met to full satisfaction.
The sixth and final goal, "Technology Operations and Concepts," asks that "Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations." This goal provides a unique challenge to schools because it assumes this learning will occur throughout the school, regardless of grade or discipline. In the explanatory bullet points, it is stated that students should be able to "Understand and use technology systems" and "Troubleshoot systems and applications." There is an implicit assumption here that teachers will be conversant with technology systems and be able to troubleshoot systems. We're not just talking about technology teachers or the technology support staff; we're talking about all faculty. In other words, teachers and administrators need to be reasonably adept at using technology for this goal to be realized. It will simply not be acceptable for educators to declare that "I don't do technology" or "I'm just not interested in learning anything about computers" if this goal is to be realized.
The ISTE standards for students define goals for students that put learning at the center. But they also make a 21st century assumption: that the key toolkit for learning will be digital. Want to know more? Check out the ISTE web site. On the Home page, click on the "Standards" tab to see the complete set of student standards.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Filmmaking
Last year, following a semester of teaching Filmmaking, I posted a few of the films students created. I received plenty of positive feedback; readers enjoyed seeing what Upper School students could create when given some time, direction and encouragement.
This year's class is different from last year in two specific ways. The group, at least during the first semester, is smaller. Only three students are enrolled. And importantly, all three were completely novice filmmakers. They needed to learn everything from script writing to story boarding to camera work to editing. These very substantial challenges were met with the enthusiasm and persistence of students who really wanted to learn how to create a film.Individual and group projects were completed through the semester. Below, a sampling of some of the work completed by Marisa, Stephen and Alex.
Stephen created a promotional piece for a Film Appreciation Club
Marisa's short film highlights the benefits of mechanical pencils
A promotional short by Marisa encourages participation in the Model U.N Club
Alex's short film about Habitat for Humanity utilizes stop action
A group effort, this film's recounts GSB's Halloween 2013 celebration and was co-created by all three students
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Happy Holidays
I saw this video in a NPR blog site (the two-way) and liked the way it combines history with state-of-the-art technology. I also liked the reminder that we all live on one world....earth.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Hour of Code III
I'm writing as we're concluding our Hour of Code week at GSB. This is a program organized through the efforts of a variety of prominent technology people and companies. Supportive partners include Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Khan Academy and YouTube, to name a few. Many prominent technologists (e.g.: Bill Gates, Hardi Partovi, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg) have lent their support as well.
What's the Hour of Code about? It's been a national effort to introduce students, grades K - 12, to computer coding. The rationale is simple, though not one-dimensional. One reason why it's important to introduce students to coding is that an increasing amount of job opportunities will depend on coding skills and knowledge. We simply do not graduate enough students with adequate computer science literacy, and the shortfall will grow in the coming years.
 |
| From the 2010 - 2012 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/ |
One more educational reason why the Hour of Code makes sense. It provides an introduction to an academic discipline that many students otherwise might not encounter. It's impossible to get through twelve years of schooling with no English or history or science or math. Virtually all students have exposure to other languages, music, the arts and physical education. But a surprisingly small group of students have had a academic exposure to computer science. This is a gap in our system and needs to be addressed. This program provides a step in the right direction.
Not sure that learning computer coding will change how you think? You might want to read an article that appeared very recently in the December 15th edition of the NY Times. It's titled "The Code of Life," by Juliet Waters, and it presents a very personal and compelling case.
The Hour of Code program provided coding tutorials that were categorized by coding language and grade appropriateness. Our Lower School students spent time with several coding languages, but especially with Scratch, and object-oriented language that is highly visual and easy for kids to learn.
When I asked Carrie Petkiewich, our Middle School computer instructor, about her experience with the Hour of Code, this is what she said: “The Hour of Code was a fantastic opportunity to introduce something new to my middle school students. The programs we tried were fun, but also challenging. I enjoyed seeing the students thinking, strategizing, and troubleshooting to fix a step they got wrong. They were excited when they got the code right. This was problem solving in programming and all the students who were able to do it really enjoyed it. Coding is something I hope to continue to incorporate.”
Below, a few pictures of the Middle School students at work on coding projects.
In the Upper School, computer science classes participated in the Hour of Code, as did the physics classes and some math and chemistry classes. Older students were introduced to somewhat more complicated coding projects using languages like JavaScript, Python and M.I.T.-designed code to allow students to write apps for mobile devices. I personally worked with two classes as they coded. One was a statistics class, the other a filmmaking class. In both, students were engaged and productive. Feedback was positive along the lines of "It's pretty cool learning how computers are instructed to operate" and "I thought this would be dull but it's actually pretty interesting." Below, a few pictures of Upper School students at work.
Many, many projects were completed, but most were not saved. I did manage to grab one saved file from Marisa, an Upper School student. She was working in JavaScript, a language that utilizes a combination of text and symbol instructions with numbers. If you wanted a prompt for a web site page to be printed, for instance, the JavaScript instruction would look like this:
<p>"Print" dialog with printer icon:</p>
<p><a href="JavaScript:window.print();">Print this page</a></p>
<div class="more-info">
<p>More info: <a href="/javascript/javascript_print.cfm">JavaScript Print</a></p>
</div>
<p><a href="JavaScript:window.print();">Print this page</a></p>
<div class="more-info">
<p>More info: <a href="/javascript/javascript_print.cfm">JavaScript Print</a></p>
</div>
Marisa created a greeting card through JavaScript. Here's the finished product, done in an hour of coding:
In the Lower School, Lynn Prosen and Jill Fedon used class time to introduce all of our LS students to coding. Some of the work was done off-line using basic coding instructions (forward, back, left, right) to direct Bee-Bot robots through a maze. Because the coding instructions had a direct relationship to the physical movements of the robots, the students were able to see for themselves the cause and effect of computer coding.
Jill Fedon did a great job of filming students at work and creating a short video. You can see for yourself that students were engaged, motivated and active as they participated in the Hour of Code.
Probably best to end this post with a short video describing an actual coding story. It involves a man with a laptop and an offer to a homeless man. The story, as it unfolds, is one version of a modern day fairy tale.
Jill Fedon did a great job of filming students at work and creating a short video. You can see for yourself that students were engaged, motivated and active as they participated in the Hour of Code.
Probably best to end this post with a short video describing an actual coding story. It involves a man with a laptop and an offer to a homeless man. The story, as it unfolds, is one version of a modern day fairy tale.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Paperless Grading
Recently, I was reading a review of
iAnnotate. It’s an app that has been
designed to allow users to annotate documents.
The review (in the ProfHacker blog, The
Chronicle of Higher Education, 12/3/13) promoted the use of the app as a
grading tool.
The premise for the utility of the app is simple. In the traditional model, students submit assignments on paper. Faculty mark up the assignment with comments and grade it. The paper is then handed back to the student. Students may or may not read the often barely legible comments, and then they typically toss the assignment. The cycle begins again with the next assignment. iAnnotate takes the paper out of the equation and as a bonus, offers legible comments to students and makes more permanent assignment storage easier.
The premise for the utility of the app is simple. In the traditional model, students submit assignments on paper. Faculty mark up the assignment with comments and grade it. The paper is then handed back to the student. Students may or may not read the often barely legible comments, and then they typically toss the assignment. The cycle begins again with the next assignment. iAnnotate takes the paper out of the equation and as a bonus, offers legible comments to students and makes more permanent assignment storage easier.
The app, available for iPad and Android
users, offers a full array of comment features for any imported document. So if a student writes a paper, it could be
emailed to the teacher and then opened in iAnnotate. From that screen, an array of tools is
available. Graders can highlight,
underline, add text boxes or simply type text directly on to the document. Annotators have control over color and font
choices. There’s also a stamp feature which is useful to offer final grades or
"stamp" symbols suggesting a comment (e.g.: check marks, stars, questions marks, etc.)
After grading is complete, the assigned work could be emailed back or synced to
a cloud-based storage account (e.g.: DropBox, Google Drive or Box) with shared
permission to the student.
 |
| In the app, you can read or annotate an assignment. |
iAnnotate costs a bit, as far as the pricing
of apps go. It’s $9.99 for iPad users in the iTunes store. Android users get a
scaled back version but right now it appears to be free.
Just to be clear, there are apps that offer
similar features to iAnnotate. In fact, there’s an excellent web site that will
summarize strengths and weaknesses of similarly featured apps: appcrawlr.com By all means, take some time to find the app
that works best for you.
Not everyone is a tablet user. For computer
users, whether desktop or laptop, another tool is available that offers the
similar promise of paperless grading. It’s Microsoft Word. Current versions make it quite easy to
comment on student work using the Comment feature in the Review tab.
Additionally, add a text box, available in the Insert tab, and a comment can be offered anywhere in the document. That comment can be sized, and there are options to control font and color.
After fully grading an assignment, the work could be emailed back to the student. It might look something like this:
What’s the advantage of using available technologies to move towards paperless grading? There are two big advantages. First, there’s a paper savings. For any one teacher giving an assignment, paper savings would not amount to much. But in the aggregate, a real environmental difference can be made. No less important is the very real possibility that more students will be paying attention to the comments teachers offer about assigned work. A great deal of time and labor goes into grading papers. Shouldn’t we want students to pay attention to what we have to offer in the way of constructive criticism? But it’s hard for students to pay much attention to your comments if they are difficult to read. Fortunately, solutions are available.
Additionally, add a text box, available in the Insert tab, and a comment can be offered anywhere in the document. That comment can be sized, and there are options to control font and color.
After fully grading an assignment, the work could be emailed back to the student. It might look something like this:
What’s the advantage of using available technologies to move towards paperless grading? There are two big advantages. First, there’s a paper savings. For any one teacher giving an assignment, paper savings would not amount to much. But in the aggregate, a real environmental difference can be made. No less important is the very real possibility that more students will be paying attention to the comments teachers offer about assigned work. A great deal of time and labor goes into grading papers. Shouldn’t we want students to pay attention to what we have to offer in the way of constructive criticism? But it’s hard for students to pay much attention to your comments if they are difficult to read. Fortunately, solutions are available.
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