Spring Break!

I’ve had some fun with educational technology over spring break.  No heavy lifting . . . . straight fun!

For instance, some of the students and staff at Mercy have been exploring the iWizards’ iPad Tips and Tricks on Schoology. Consequently they have been earning our animated GIF badges which I have been more than happy to award.  Some like Mrs. Kline-Kator have earned all thirteen so they have home pages that light up like Christmas trees:

Over the past couple of months I have been scouting talent for 2016 Tech Talk. I keep a stockpile of interesting potential presenters in Evernote.  Over the break, I have been rating them on a set of criteria such as interest to Mercy staff, topic variety, expertise, proximity.  I have LAO been looking up contact info and following on Twitter when possible.  Folks like Jillian Johnson who rated an A+, don't know yet I'm "stalking" them.  But I hope that they will come to Tech Talk when I contact them next school year!

For Wednesday's webcast of Preview ISTE 2015 I had the good fortune of being teamed up with Kristen Swanson for the hour segment on professional development. She was a hard act to follow. Kristen is edcamp co-founder and delivered a terrific 20 minute presentation on the movement.  For those who don't know, here are the general features of these "unconferences":

*free

*non-commercial and conducted with a vendor-free presence

*made up of sessions that are determined on the day of the event by the participants

*events where anyone who attends can facilitate a session

*reliant on the “law of two feet” that encourages participants to find a session that meets their needs

Typical of ISTE events, I took away more than I contributed.

Oh yes, there was one other ed techie thing that I did over break.  As you can see, I blogged!

Students Teaching Students-- the Benefits Work Both Ways!

For my upcoming presentations at MACUL and ISTE on Peer-to-Peer technology training I have interviewed two iWizards. Their experiences come from teaching new students at the Mercy iPad Orientation and 7th/8th graders at iCreate. Here are some sound bites that I found very perceptive and interesting.

Taylor's remarks on the effectiveness peer-to-peer instructions

Katie and Taylor reflect on the benefits they have received as trainers from Peer-to-Peer training.

Building a MOOC Fallout Shelter

Reflections on ISTE '13, one of three

The most impactful presentation I listened to at ISTE 2013 this past week was delivered by Dr. Scott Garrigan of Lehigh University.  Garrigan described to us the massive impacts on Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCS) on higher education.  While he devoted too little time to speculating about the ramifications for K-12, he did a masterful job describing the disruption that this will create for educational institutions.

He pointed out that hundreds of thousands of learners are already taking (and completing) thousands of online courses.  Some are simple modules from the Khan Academy.  Others are full fledged university courses from Stanford, Harvard, M.I.T.,  Duke, etc. ranging from Algebra to Biogenetics. What is more the process for accrediting these courses has begun.  "Courses" at iTunesU also proliferate.  Two recent developments have struck terror in the hearts of university presidents everywhere:  

1. Georgia Tech is offering an online three year Masters Degree in computer science for $6,600.
2. The California State University system in partnership with Udacity announced an initiative for piloting online courses from San Jose State for $150 a piece in courses like remedial algebra course, college-level algebra and introduction to statistics.  These will be offered through community colleges and high schools with the aim of proliferating throughout the state (and no doubt, beyond).

Creative Commons Photo by CornDogBlog

Certainly there are drawbacks to online courses, not the least being the "caring" touch, and accountability provided by face-to-face learning.  Obviously the thousands of persons taking these classes are drawn to the ability to take them at one's own pace on one's own "class meeting" schedule.  Regardless, the incredible cost differential almost makes these arguments moot.  The university system is facing a massive shakedown as a consequence.  It is clear  that the traditional brick and mortar university as we have know it will change soon, and some may face extinction altogether.

Unfortunately, though titled, "How Will the MOOC Explosion Affect K-12 Schools and Students", not much time was spent speculating on the affect on K-12.  I have been reflecting on this since and have the following meagre thoughts.

It is obvious that ubiquitous online course offerings from some of the top professors in the nation will have an effect on K-12 schooling that goes far beyond the home schooling front. I have the strong impression that the powerful pressures on traditional high schools to accept these courses in place of requirements or for advanced placement will come before enlightened policies are in place to deal with these demands.

Accreditation is a huge issue.  Even if schools and school districts welcome (or are mandated to) accept online courses across disciplines it certainly will be difficult to sort out what kind of courses are acceptable.  Perhaps this will occur at the state level. Michigan's our current governor, Rick Snyder is a keen proponent of online courses as part of his Anytime, Anywhere" education reform plan, believing that school funding should follow students who seek options other than their neighborhood school.

Of course MOOCS challenge brick and mortar schools to justify themselves as providing significant value-added beyond providing content.  Teachers that offer conventional lecture/test methods will find it difficult to argue that they provide an experience superior to lectures provided by the leading authorities in the world accompanied by interactive software developed an extremely sophisticated outfit like Udacity.

I really appreciate how clearly and profoundly Scott presented these issues. I have more questions than answers, but hope to revisit this subject in the coming school year with my colleagues, so that we can do are best to prepare for the inevitable.

ISTE 2011 Presentation

Today, Wednesday, June 29, I am be making a presentation at ISTE 2011, called, “Challenging the Challengers”.  This will tell the story of my efforts to cultivate the Challenge Based Learning  through a formal professional development program.  We had our ups and downs, but finished our time together with several CBLish challenges ready for next year.  These projects involve all grade levels at our high school and most of our academic disciplines.  The process has already had a significant impact on our school culture.

The story begins with the entire staff reading Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap.  Wagner posits that American students must cultivate seven “survival skills” in order to succeed in today's flat,  wired, global environment 

* Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

* Collaboration and Leading by Influence

* Agility and Adaptability

* Initiative and Entrepreneurialism

 * Effective Oral and Written Communication

 * Accessing and Analyzing Information

 * Curiosity and Imagination

It was pre-ordained by administration that Challenge Based Learning would be a pathway to acquiring these skills (The mandate in itself created some push-back).  However, we tackled this challenge within a challenge through “professional cluster groups” which met about twelve times each semester.  In addition an August afternoon of in-service was devoted to acquainting ourselves with CBL.  Later, we spent an entire November session sorting through “big ideas”.  The program essentially  focused on the following themes:

* Collaboration

* Transparency

* What’s Your Passion?

* Pitching Your Passion! (November Full Day In-Service)

* Teacher’s Role in CBL

* Authentic Audiences

* Assessment

* CBL End Game

The presentation is laid out in two slide presentations with a short quicktime movie.

They are available below and licensed to Creative Commons with attricution:

ISTE Presentation Part 1

ISTE Presentation Part 2