Category Archives: technology

24/7 Support

Education, teaching, technology

I spent last evening having a thoughtful discussion with other educators about a wide range of issues. From integrating technology to creating authentic learning to getting beyond the “testing season,” we dug into the complex concerns about how to provide the best possible education for our students. What we didn’t discuss as much was the impact ubiquitous computing might have on educators.

We know that testing has put more and more pressure on teachers but what about all those devices and that access? I hadn’t thought much beyond the classroom setting until I happened to read this Education Week blog entry reviewing an ISTE presentation on the challenges of mobile devices. The article focused on problems related to sending school-owned devices home with kids and general planning related to rolling out 1:1. But here was the paragraph that struck me:

Devices have been distributed to ninth graders in the district, and students are using them to complete practice problems in class, create videos about how to approach problems, and video chat with teachers from home when they are working on homework. Having that 24-7 support helps academically struggling students get their questions answered and allows teachers to provide more personalized feedback to each student, said Friebel.

I know teachers are all about helping their students as much as possible and many work long past the scheduled work day already. But aren’t we expecting a little too much when we think they should be providing 24/7 support to their students? The article doesn’t say anything about the expectations that have been set for teachers in terms of being online outside of school hours. Are those video chats scheduled? Or do students simply “pop in” when they see their teacher online? What about email or instant messaging? Are teachers expected to provide their phone numbers to students so they can answer their students whenever and wherever they receive messages? I’m imagining the kid who complains that he couldn’t finish his homework because Mrs. Jones wasn’t available for a video chat when he got home from the football game at 10 PM or didn’t answer his 2 AM email.

Talk about trying to find a work/life balance…

Musing on Work, Life and Productivity

technology, thinking out loud, work

148/365 for 2010 The Definition of GreenAs someone who works in a very non-traditional environment, I am interested in conversations about what I call the work life flow. Mitch Joel calls it the work life blend. I like the concept of the blend: you work when work needs to be done, but you don’t work all the time because there are other things to do that are important as well. But whether you call it a flow or a blend, it’s easier to achieve if you don’t have to be in an office for a set number of hours. Once you put me at a desk from 8 to 5, you separate work from life.

I’m also really interested in how other people work: what kinds of routines have they established them help them manage the flow or blend or whatever you want to call it besides balance? I had a vague idea that there were “productivity methods” out there but I am not very good at following methods. Heck, I still do paper and pencil to do lists*. Most people end up doing some kind of hybrid method and I like the Pomodoro method of working with focus and then taking breaks. It’s actually kind of how I work anyway.

I tend to be a little cynical about methods…you spend more time organizing than doing. I do practice the live frog method although I have not read the book, only seen it on airport bookshelves. And, I’m thinking about writing the “graduate student” approach to productivity that I practiced: the fact is that everything on the list has to be done by a certain deadline at the end of the semester, but there wasn’t any rule that they couldn’t be turned in early. So, when there’s work to do, I generally work on it at least a little bit every day. When I see a chunk of time, I do a chunk of work. The goal is to complete the work rather than meet the deadline. It may be that it fits with the nature of the work I do, taking on projects with finite beginnings and endings rather than a more open ended king of employment.

Right now, my big productivity challenge is to figure out a routine that includes more “quadrant two” time (OK, I’m a Covey fan) when I can read and share.

And it occurred to me that this lifehacker.com article about productivity apps has the same lesson that educators are learning; it’s not about the technology. You can buy a million productivity apps but at some point, you have to just do the work not simply plan to do it.

*I have tried hard to transfer to a digital to do list. But I like being able to “curl up” with my to do list and I have an affinity for Moleskin. It’s part of my method.

Technology Mediated Lives

technology,

Jason Cipriani at Wired reviewed Twine, the new product that allows home users to easily set up sensors. I’m intrigued and can think of ways I could use it myself, like sensing when the dryer stops since I’m too far away to hear the buzzer. Jason has some ideas as well that include tracking the patterns of his kids’ snacking.

The article did make me a bit thoughtful, however, about how we mediate our lives with technology. One of Jason’s ideas was to keep track of when his tomato plants needed water. Water sensors are nothing new and are often used to make sure we don’t over or under water our plants. But, plants need much more than water to grow and some of what they need is just attention and awareness. Are the leaves the right color? Is there any evidence of infestation? Are the blossoms falling off? Does the fruit show signs of blossom end rot? Certainly, these are all things that could be checked when you water but depending on how often you do that, you may miss the early signs of a problem that, left alone too long, could have dire consequences for your plant.

We cannot give up our own attention and awareness in favor of technology. There is a certain amount of intuition that goes into working with living things like plants that no amount of technology can replace.

Advice to Newbies

21st Century Skills, adult learning, Education, technology,

I am in the midst of teaching an online course that focuses on educational technology for school administrators. While the focus of the course is educational technology, it is not a “tech” course. The participants do explore various technologies, but the main conversation is about how administrators can support the use of technology. The course is centered around the NETS-A and we move from visionary leadership to professional learning to systemic improvement in the course of the semester.

Many of the participants do not consider themselves technologically savvy and the course is their first online experience as well. I do a lot of hand holding at the beginning, and for some, throughout the semester, as they struggle both with the content that asks them to reconsider much of what they think about education and technology, and the technology itself. I do some scaffolding by way of screencasts of how to navigate our course in Google Sites, and I am always available to answer specific questions as I make it clear to them that they aren’t being graded on their ability to use technology.

Still, they feel overwhelmed. Their first assignment is to choose a technology and create a tutorial designed for school leaders. After reviewing her classmates’ work, one student commented on how much she loved Voice Thread and then wondered why she didn’t learn about it sooner. Another was determined to learn everything about all the new technologies that were introduced. Yet another despaired of every being more than an immigrant, unable to understand the new language and culture.

I give all of them the same piece of advice: there’s a lot of technology out there and more is being added every day. That’s the way it is going to be from now on. So, get used to always feeling behind. Give up trying to learn about all of it, but position yourself within a professional learning network that at least helps you build awareness of new trends and offer support for your learning efforts. Then, consider your needs as a teacher or administrator, and find one or two technologies that support those needs and learn all you can about them. Are you responsible for professional development? Then, maybe Google sites is a good tool for creating a shared space. Do you feel like you need to communicate better with all your stakeholders? Then, maybe you should explore how Facebook and Twitter could help with that outreach? Do you have lots of technology in your school but not much integration? Then, maybe it’s a model like TPACK that can help support your efforts.

And, when you discover a new-to-you technology like Voice Thread, don’t wonder why it took you so long. Instead, embrace it, learn about it, and be reassured that an “older” technology likely has more staying power so you won’t be facing its loss in a few weeks when the company goes under.

Finally, learning one technology in depth will support your adaptive learning as you will become more familiar with technology in general and the next time you’re facing a new program or tool, you’ll be better equipped to dive in.

What advice do you have for these newbies?

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?