Category Archives: Education

International Transformation

Education, technology

Really interesting article from Ghana about the possibility of technology for providing free education to children who otherwise would go without:

One hopes that all the political parties in Ghana will focus on how the use of digital devices such as tablet computers, could help our country provide quality free education from kindergarten to tertiary level, to all Ghanaians with the aptitude to study – at a fraction of the cost of providing education through the traditional bricks-and-mortar method.

When I read this, I wonder if we have too much in this country and it makes us jaded. We know technology can’t transform education in our country. But can it have transformational powers in other countries where textbooks and paper and pencil are not ubiquitous. What is the power of a tablet computer and free wifi in the hands of students who otherwise have nothing?

From the News: Technology Leads a Literacy Revolution

Education, technology,

My colleagues and I often shake our heads over headlines touting the next technology that is going to lead the education revolution. It simply isn’t historically accurate. Technology doesn’t change education; instead, education changes technology, adapting it to current classroom practices.

But, in today’s google alert related to mobile technology, a headline caught my attention precisely because it goes against history. It seems that, in an effort to increase literacy among women, Afghanistan is harnessing mobile technology:

Afghanistan has launched a new literacy programme that enables Afghan women deprived of a basic education during decades of war to learn to read and write using a mobile phone.

In a country where women were forbidden from going to school and the literacy rate for women is about 13%, mobile technology may just foster a revolution in learning. Software developed by an Afghani company and distributed on free phones is making this revolution possible.

Maybe we have finally seen an example of technology sparking a revolution…

 

Serendipity

Education, history, school reform

A question from a student, some tweets with a colleague, and I realized I had forgotten a good bit of my education history. The question had to do with why more progressive educational practices such as those found in Montessori schools did not catch in on public schools. The colleague suggested that it was the Cold War and A Nation at Risk that squelched progressive ideas. I made a vague commitment to read some history including Diane Ravitch‘s Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms.

But it was a vague commitment and the fiction on my shelf was much more compelling. So, I was excited when I saw Bud Hunt’s post about starting an education history book club. He felt as though educators often repeat history because they don’t know enough about it:

So I’m pretty sure that my main objectives for a project like this would be basically encouraging educators and folks who impact education to better understand their history.  In my reading and writing and thinking, I’ve come to discover that people are pretty much ignorant of anything educationally relevant that happened more than ten or twenty minutes ago.  And we keep having the same conversations.  And forgetting the outcomes.  Then doing it again.

So, his suggestion is for a group to read historical documents related to education, beginning with the report of the Committee of Ten from 1892. This committee was created by the National Education Association to develop answers to questions related to what, when and how students should be learning.

I have started the report and am finding it tough going. I had trouble getting past the fact that, even though women made up more than 50% of teachers at that time, the committee included men only and seemed to celebrate that fact:

Six of the Chairmen were college men, and three were school men; while of the Secretaries, two were college men and seven school men (p. 11).

Forty seven of the ninety members of the committee were from colleges and universities but the report assures us that many have had school experiences.  But like many modern day education commissions, there were no practicing teachers on the committee.

Ravitch begins her book about school reform with the Committee of Ten, which was the first national committee to discuss how to standardize education in the United States. According to Ravitch, the one legacy of the committee’s work was the creation of the College Entrance Examination Board that set uniform standards for college admissions.

NB: Part of the reason I’ve struggled with the reading is because it took me some time to find the “right” digital version from the Internet archive. I wanted to be able to bookmark, highlight and annotate. After some experimentation, I found the ePub version to be the best although it has lots of errors that aren’t found in the online or pdf version.

 

Name Change?

Education, technology

Justin Reich’s title for his blog post caught my attention: If You Meet An iPad on the Way, Smash It. It is a play on a well-known Zen koan that advises you to kill the Buddha if you meet him on the road.

Reich’s post describes the EdTeach Teacher iPad Summit, which ended today. Despite its name, Reich insists that the iPad is not the focus on the conference:

The way we are seeking is one where we prepare young people for a life of civic commitment, of self-reflection, and of meaningful work and contributions to community. The way is about unlocking student talent, compassion, and humanity. If the iPad distracts us from defining the way, then we have to smash it.

Reich’s “way” is admirable and his idea that we can’t let technology get in the way is also admirable.  My simple question is this: if your goal is not related to iPads, then why is this called an iPad summit? Why not call it “unlocking student potential”? Or “developing 21st century citizenship”? Or “creating powerful learning environments”?

 

 

Writing Obama’s Technology Agenda (Hint…it includes STEM)

Education, technology

From today’s educational technology Google alert: concerns for Obama’s technology agenda.

The 8 Missions that Should Dominate Obama’s Technology Agenda from Michael Copeland at Wired: Concerns from tech startup leaders including Kevin Hartz from Everbrite, Chad Dickerson from eBay and Matt Mullenweg from WordPress. They focus on everything from immigration reform to STEM education to privacy and business concerns. But the conclusion comes from Brian Helmig, co-founder Zapier:

I’m a bit of a cynic, but at least for me, politics tends to be a bit of a distraction. Of course, I understand that many of the issues are incredibly important, but my disinterest is purely practical and not ideological. When customers need support, code needs written, and servers need upgrading, the political process seems far removed from my daily reality. So, like most of us, I watched the spectacle with a detached curiosity and then got back to work.

Eric Lundquist at Information Week has 5 items that should top the technology agenda. His article considers how government can make better use of technology from defense to voting. He intersects with Copeland is a need for technology education:

We can’t afford to waste the opportunity to train the workforce to take advantage of the jobs being created as mobility, big data, cloud computing and digital manufacturing transforms the technology landscape.

Gregory Ferenstein at TechCrunch uses Obama’s own words to suggest what the agenda might be. Again, STEM education is mentioned as an important area for development and government support.

Just for reference, President Elect Obama had an extensive technology agenda in 2009. Here’s the current White House technology agenda.