A Lack Of Clarity In A Connected School

With the events of today happening right before many of our eyes and in some cases our ears I could not help but ponder the following: What is the deal with a lack of adequate bandwidth in schools? Why aren't all schools connected to either cable television or satellite television? Why is so much money spent on more and more equipment, but not on the infrastructure to support the use of that equipment?

I reached a dizzying level of frustration at school today. During my planning for the day's events and seizing the many teachable moments that were destined to occur I was met with a complete disaster. Despite my many attempts to stream the Inauguration into my classroom, first with many computers and then ultimately through one computer, my students and I were left with a simple audio feed of the Inauguration. I wondered how can a school and district continually discuss the need for more technology, more computers, an increased use of these tools, and greater use of Web 2.0 applications yet we could not even adequately stream one of the most important events in recent time.

Not to become too distraught I immediately reached for the television and figured perhaps I can get a signal so that we can simply view the day's events on a small television. After all something was better than nothing. As soon as I pushed the power button our anticipation, excitement, and fervor was met with, static. I even feebly attempted to maneuver the antenna delicately making micro adjustments in the hopes I would get that one slight signal. Some signal, any signal, just let me get an image on the screen so we can see the excitement of all attendance in Washington DC. We wanted to get the classic picture of the President taking the oath of office and then delivering their Inauguration address. My hopes were crushed and we were left with a periodic audio feed.

Thus, leading me to this blog posting and the aforementioned questions. With all the talk about tech in schools, it is imperative that talk includes infrastructure. No matter how technologically advanced a school is or has a vision to become, it will only be as good as the network infrastructure it most likely already has in place. Bandwidth pipes are only able to handle so many connections and unless you have a situation where the network can be expanded along with the increased technological load schools are actually doing their teachers and students a disservice.

In addition the television troubles had me thinking, in the event of an emergency how would I get my information? Yes I have a cell phone as do most of my students. But when a major catastrophe occurs, are most looking to their cell phones for information or the television. No matter how effective twitter, SMS, and email can be, but to not have a reliable television connection is not appropriate. Of course I can see it now, if we set up cable or satellite in all the rooms the teachers will just show television rather than teach, hmmm are the teachers adults that need to be babysat or are they highly educated trained adults that are fully capable of managing things for them and their students without a need for ridiculous innuendo and interventions?

Seems to me safety, connectivity, accessiblitily, and reliability are more than just key technology vocabulary words. They need to be applied to all facets of the school infrastructure with a plan for scalability as well as proper implementation.

Presentation on Developing E-Learning Courseware/E-Modules for a Medical, Dentistry, and Pharmacy University in Africa

Social Networking as Augmentation To In Class Discussion

Teaching A Course Authoring Package Online: Lessons Learned

Professional Development=Professional Progress

"Quick hurry get your submissions in" that was the theme of many twitter and plurk postings earlier this week. Why? The National Education Computing Conference "NECC" was accepting submissions for the conference in 2009 in Washington DC. Many of my friends, colleagues, and professional learning network "PLN" friends were scrambling to get their last minute submissions in. Most are simply hoping to get at least one accepted while others, myself included, have multiple sessions we would like to have accepted. I also want to add that my friend Dr. Mark Wagner has very insightful take on the submission process and his experiences with it.

During the time in which I was completing my submission I could not help but reflect on many things associated with it. The first and perhaps most important was that I initiated a proposal to conduct a session in which I would moderate a panel on the value of having a PLN. I posted an query on both twitter and plurk asking if anybody in my PLN would be interested in participating on the panel. The response was beyond amazing. I had many who said yes, some even felt honored to share the stage with me, and those that did not want to be on the stage offered support by doing things like moderating a backchannel chat, or operating a camera to live stream the session.

Unfortunately, the format only permits me to have 6 additional participants on stage, but if my submission is accepted I think demonstrating the real value of having a good PLN will be easy to show. Audience members will be able to see the level of support one gets when they not only have a good PLN, but are actively participating with their network. As it stands I may have fellow educators connected from as far away as Europe. I am hopeful to have several continents represented to further emphasize the value of the network. I can only humbly think that without technology and tools such as twitter and plurk, I would not be the educator I am today. I am certain I would have less than 10% of the resources and support I get from my PLN. This is my preferred type of professional development. It also emphasizes the need for teachers to be involved and to attend conferences in order to establish and build a PLN

I have posted links to all three sessions I have submitted and hope to not only see many or all of you at NECC, I hope you will either be able to attend one of my sessions or contribute to the session on having a good PLN. Feel free to post comments and share your thoughts and opinions on this. If possible I will include them in my presentation at the CLMS/CLHS/CUE Technology Conference in Monterey, CA this December.

Build It Better: Project Based Learning From The Ground Up With Google Sketchup [Formal Session : BYOL] (43610829)

Teacher, Teach Thyself-Make Your Own PD PLaN [Formal Session : Panel] (43720659)

We Are Rolling: Film Production And Its' Pedagogical Application In Education. [Workshop : Hands-on] (43610897)

The Start of School and Hopefully Something BIGGER

Since by now most everybody has started school I felt compelled to publish this blog posting. Yes I will let you know now it is a bit of a rant, but not the kind you may be used to. This is my rant against teachers, of which I am one, but I am most certainly not guilty of what I suggest here.

How many of you spend a dime of your own money or even more time than your contracted day doing work for school? Yes that is what I thought. In an informal survey I have found that roughly 90% of the those I asked that question answered in the affirmative. Most actually did both!! Ok people, I respect you, I appreciate your energy to the profession, and most importantly I appreciate your commitment to your students. However, this has got to stop and I mean stop NOW.

I recently had a class within my Masters degree curriculum titled Human Performance Technology, "HPT." This was a fascinating class and such an eye-opening experience that I truly felt invigorated to be a student in the class. During one particular class session we had the privilege and luxury to have a skype session with Dr. Saul Carliner, who is currently an associate professor at Concordia University and at one time was the Chapter President for the International Society for Performance Improvement, "ISPI." During this skype session one of my classmates told the story of how he single handedly put together a computer lab at his school. He worked after hours and on weekends setting up the computers, network, printers, and projectors. Of course he thought he was doing a good deed for his school since he was not paid for his time. However, when it came time for maintenance, and we all know many schools purchase equipment without factoring in the cost of ownership, the school expected him to handle all tech related troubles. So he respectfully asked the school if he could be compensated for his time in helping other teachers and providing this maintenance. Of course the school's response was, "Oh, well, we do not have the money for that. Couldn't you just do it anyway."

Dr. Carliner immediately interjected and asked the question, what did you expect them to say? This student seemed dumbfounded since he expected the school to show its' gratitude by compensating him for what he felt was a reasonable request. Dr. Carliner then proceeded to break it all down. He stated that this is a common thing that teachers do not realize they are doing more damage to themselves than they think. The very moment this individual took on the task of working for free, it became expected he would work for free, and worse it severely diminished his value.

While I have always felt that teachers do too much for their schools and students without being appropriately and fairly compensated it was quite refreshing to hear this from an expert in HPT and hear him state clearly why. Another analogy was that when important speakers get paid lots of money to speak, the value of their time is measured in the amount of compensation. Do you really think anybody would listen if they spoke for free? Sure some would, but the fact they are in demand and command a fee, in some cases sizable, means they have enough value to justify their fee.

So that leads me to this, if ALL teachers decided enough was enough (in this economy that should be even more prevalent) and stopped spending their own money and working on their time what would happen. Yes their might be some backlash and yes many including district personnel would say that it is hurting the students, but I say NOT POSSIBLE. If school districts and the general public really felt that way, then they would ensure teacher's have the right budgets, tools, and support to get the things they need to do their job as effectively and efficiently as possible. It is not fair nor appropriate to expect a teacher to use their hard earned money from their grossly underpaid check on your child. It is not fair that schools expect teachers to grade papers at home (especially if they have a family) when they waste hours and hours of our time on inappropriate useless professional development, among many other things. When a lawyer works after hours or on the weekends don't they bill for their time? When a doctor is "on call" aren't they still on the clock? Why is it that so many other professionals get compensated for their time away from their desks, yet teachers are expected to do the same and not be compensated?

Perhaps the foundation of this, will answer the burning question many have, "Are teachers professionals?" In my humble opinion, when you have to take credential classes, continuing education, i.e. professional development, you can be board certified, and many possess Masters or PhDs, I say with a loud and resounding voice YES. But, teachers need to start modeling their professional counterparts in order to be treated like a professional. Stop working for free! Stop spending your hard earned money! If your class lacks supplies or resources tell the parents to call the principal. Call the school board. Demand that you be treated like any other professional! And please, please, please, do not let them pull at your heart strings by saying you are hurting your students (unions can be guilty of this as well). No you absolutely are not!! They are, and they are slowly, systematically, diminishing YOUR value!!!

I recently shared this view with a good friend and wonderful educator Teryl Magee. She worked long hours and devoted much of her time to school. Once she recognized the value of her own time and her desires to do more with her loved ones she realized that her students will be just fine and she stopped working longer hours than what is contracted. She is happier, her students get a happier teacher everyday, and her family gets more of her time. I only hope more of you will consider doing the same.

Cell Phones In Education

Recently I had the pleasure of giving a presentation on the use of cell phones in education. The presentation covered many tools that are available to those of us that own a cell phone, as well as, practical ways in which they can be applied to education. I am sure there are many naysayers and there is much opposition to cell phones being used in schools, but I am of the perspective that if you teach appropriate use you stand a greater chance of diminishing inappropriate use. In fact I find it quite comical and offensive that so many decision makers ban the use of things like phones or ___(insert your favorite Web 2.0 site here) without any justifiable reason. In addition, by doing this without any real reason it is a slap in the face of educators. The message being sent is, "we do not think you are capable of managing your class, even though you have the training and schooling, so we will do it for you. But, you better get those test scores up and we will only provide you with the minimal support needed." This attitude reminds me of a quote from Bill Parcells former NFL head coach and Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Miami Dolphins, "if you want me to cook the dinner the least you could do is let me shop for the groceries."

But, the beauty of having a wonderful Personal Learning Network "PLN" is that there are many educators who share my vision and my desire for education to take drastic leaps to the present and future. In fact, my PLN is one of my most valuable sources of information and learning. During the presentation several educators whom I highly respect and value were able to provide backchannel chat support and provide valuable contributions during the live broadcast of this presentation. It is important that I thank all of them: Dennis Grice, Alice Mercer, Aaron Smith, Andy Losik, Adina Sullivan, and Dr. Lisa Rodriguez. I have posted the presentation with a new application called sliderocket. Hopefully, it will run smoothly with the audio and the flash videos will play. Feel free to provide comments and contribute to either or both of the polleverywhere polls I have open.




Presentation Description

This presentation will cover all the latest research on cell phone usage and capabilities. We will take a look at the many tools that are available on our phones as well as how those tools can be used to produce educationally appropriate content. We will also look at a plethora of applications available online that enhances the capabilities of your phone. If you have a phone this is not a session you want to miss.

Presentation Abstract

A recurring theme I tend to hear is that cell phones do not belong in schools. Yet the latest research does not support such a drastic and unreasonable stance. Cell phones are an intricate and important part of the lives of everybody, including our students. Students nowadays are adept at many things associated with cell phones: SMS text messaging, capturing video, creating original audio content, taking photographs, surfing the internet, and in many cases conducting research.
During the course of this presentation we will examine some of the latest research on cell phone usage, global penetration, domestic penetration, as well as many other pertinent statistics. We will look at ways cell phones have transformed the lives of many including in third world countries.
The presentation will continue with an overview of the applications available on the Internet that enhance the capabilities of a cell phone. Among the features of these applications include, voice to text, how to send emails or SMS messages with your voice, recording to do lists, creating and publishing podcasts, micro-blogging, posting photos directly to an online photo album, streaming video from your phone, conducting polls, interfacing with google apps. and much more.
Concluding the presentation will be brief discussion of questions and comments posted in the backchannel chat. We will explore ways in which we can incorporate the use of cell phones within our curriculum, while remaining compliant with school/district rules. Presenter will also share actual instances in which his students have made use of some of the tools discussed and how the use of cell phones guaranteed access to the curriculum for all his students.