Reflection on 2/12

Kids learning at Kiosks in India

iGoogle

SlideShare

Keynote

Google Presentation

Forms

It just keeps on coming.  I look forward to having some time tomorrow sitting in my hotel room to mess around with some of these tools and concepts.  I continue to be amazed at the range of options we have available to "make our lives more efficient and effective."  The question for me is how much of this I will actually implement in my daily work life.  What often happens with very interesting classes like this is that I start to fiddle around with some new program or technology, then after a a little experimentation, I revert back to old ways.  I think the key is going to be putting a little time in upfront to really understand a few of these tools, then find ways that they will make my life more efficient.

I have great hopes for the Google Apps arena for a few reasons.  First, because I travel some and use a variety of computers (work laptop, home laptop, iphone...) this may help me with version control.  I always find myself messing around to make sure I have the most up to date version of important documents.  If I can keep everything in one place, it will save me lots of time.  I also find a need to collaborate with others on most of what I produce, so the collaboration piece is critical.

I fear that there will be issues with compatibility.  I don't know yet if this is going to be an issue, but I remember back when anything created something on a Mac couldn't be easily handled on a PC.  This seems to be going away, but I still get documents emailed to me from Mac users that I cannot access.  In the "real world" it seems that everything is based on Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  If I can be convinced (through experience) that the Google Docs can be emailed, printed, shared, etc. with Mac and PC users universally, then I will be sold.

Cheers!

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Sugata Mitra video

What an interesting take on the role of adults in student learning.  As academic leaders it has been drummed into us for years that the single most important aspect of student learning is a quality, caring teacher.  Mr Mitra says that students are fully capable of learning without the direct, face to face interaction with an adult.  He even goes so far as to say that 6-13 year olds will self instruct without any formal instructional technology, only access to the internet.

While I absolutely support the finding that students will learn something simply by exposure to the internet and the use of technology, I seriously question what they are learning.  I didn't see in this short presentation evidence of what the students were learning.

I was particularly interested in the fact that the students in the study learned IN GROUPS.  I think we tend to generalize online learning as individualized and isolating.  The team aspect of online learning is a keen interest of mine and an area I need to dig into more deeply.

While I am currently working in online learning, I still believe that there is an important and significant role for the teacher in student learning.  I believe that this role changes though with technology.  Teachers no longer need to be the delivery vehicle of knowledge.  Student can collect knowledge from the internet or online courses.  Teachers can now focus their efforts on remediation, clarification, collaboration, extension, making connections and application.

Here is the video

Check out this video

Blaise is one of my students at The Keystone School.  She wrote and performed this song titled Gossip Kills.  It's pretty amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBaawnw-jvg

Getting ready for day 2

Hello colleagues.  I'm sorry for my "radio silence" since the first class.  I had a very interesting trip to Tokyo though.  We are working to open a brand new private school in an exclusive neighborhood by the fall of 2012.  Business moves slowly in Japan. 

I had the opportunity to view a presentation of cutting edge video conferencing systems at the Cisco/Tandberg offices in Tokyo.  They have some amazing technology and service options that virtually put the teacher into the classroom anyplace on earth.  We had real time interactions with individuals in Hong Kong and Norway.  I was duly impressed with the full immersion conference room that included six chairs, 3 giant monitors and multiple cameras, microphones and speakers that make you feel that the other participants are sitting right across from you.  The multiple speakers, microphones and cameras make it so when someone on the screen talks and you turn your head to look at them, you actually make eye contact while thousands of miles apart.  This room was impressive, but costs about half a million dollars to build (and the folks on the other end need the same set up).  Not too feasible for a school. Click here to see one of these rooms

On the other hand, they also have small portable HD web cameras that can be plugged into your laptop and the software is all web based, so a teacher can be sitting in her kitchen in Toledo doing a science lab in front of the students in Tokyo, Dubai and Singapore.  The hand held camera can be used as a document camera or overhead camera, or left on the counter for "face to face" instruction.  The user at the receiving end can even zoom the camera in or out and pan around if the teacher is moving around her "classroom". 

The technology is fascinating and I am excited to see how we will connect students around the world in ways that will support community as well as enhance academic achievement.