A Truly Mixed Tech Environment

My friend and colleague, Tom James (Mercy's Director of IT), shared some interesting numbers with me, a couple of days ago. At most recent count, our students have ordered 274 iPads. Of course our incoming ninth graders are mandated to purchase the Apple product. However, one third of the purchases have come from our returning students.

Thus, we find ourselves in a unique situation. Those schools which are adopting the iPad find that the price point allows them to put classroom sets of devices in their students' hands for the first time. Our circumstances of transitioning from a Windows laptop to and iOS tablet brings some special advantages and challenges. An obvious advantage is our seven years of experience in 1:1 computing. Most of our staff and students flourish in a digital learning environment and come to the iPad with immediate ideas of how to leverage it.

Still, our teachers will have a special challenge. Unless they have an all-ninth grade class, they will be in a mixed environment. In other words they will have both HP laptops and iPads in the same classroom. (And such will be the case for three years). Fortunately we are not buying our training for this "off the rack". We are have developed a unique professional development scheme for our coming circumstances, and our tech department of Tom and Gary Bank (Network Administrator) help us quickly surmount challenges as they arise

Personally, I think a mixed environment is fantastic as this replicates the real world where there exists no Microsoft, Apple, or Google monopoly on the types of computing folks use for work and pleasure. In fact we have decided to embrace the mixture by providing our student with both Mac and P.C. multimedia labs. As our Principal frequently remarks, we are not an "Apple", "HP", or "Google" school.

I find the prospect of this unique challenge daunting, but exciting. I believe we will all rise to the occasion and make something very special happen.

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Creative Commons photo by markchadwickart

Eight Pillars of Innovation & Other Links

Flickr CC Photo by a11sus

The Eight Pillars of Innovation

• Have a mission that matters
• Think big, but start small
• Strive for continual innovation but not instant perfection
• Look for ideas everywhere
• Share everything
• Spark with imagination; fuel with data
• Be a platform
• Never fail to fail

http://bit.ly/nhqDPe




In Classroom of the Future, Stagnant Scores
Schools are spending billions on technology, even as they cut budgets and lay off teachers, with little proof that this approach is improving basic learning. . . . .Advocates for giving schools a major technological upgrade — which include powerful educators, Silicon Valley titans and White House appointees — say digital devices let students learn at their own pace, teach skills needed in a modern economy and hold the attention of a generation weaned on gadgets. [They contend that] standardized tests, the most widely used measure of student performance, don’t capture the breadth of skills that computers can help develop. But they also concede that for now there is no better way to gauge the educational value of expensive technology investments.

http://nyti.ms/pIkLaX

NCTE Twenty-first Century Literacies

• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
• Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
• Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

http://www.ncte.org/governance/literacies

Windows 8 Gets Ready for Its Big Debut

The company has also said it wants an operating system as at home on an 8-inch tablet as it is on a powerful desktop connected to large-screen monitors. . . . Microsoft’s choices here are critical as its traditional strength in desktops and laptops is coming under assault from a variety of challengers ranging from new mobile devices to Google’s ChromeOS to Apple’s resurgent Mac business. . . . Among the details Microsoft has shared are plans for much faster boot times (a perennial promise) as well as a controversial move to bring Office’s “ribbon” interface to the Windows desktop.

 Schools Can Learn What Schools Can Learn from Google, IDEO, and Pixar
A community about to build or rehab a school often creates checklists of best practices, looks for furniture that matches its mascot, and orders shiny new lockers to line its corridors. These are all fine steps, but the process of planning and designing a new school requires both looking outward (to the future, to the community, to innovative corporate powerhouses) as well as inward (to the playfulness and creativity that are at the core of learning).


http://bit.ly/nY6ZR7


Five Reasons Why YouTube Rocks the Classroom
Jon Corippo, a Google Certified Teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator, was among the group, and came back with ideas about what YouTube was great for.


http://bit.ly/qLYSAF