FinalCurve

For those of you who feared that I feel back on my pledge to maintain this blog, angst not.  I have been having issues with my login, apparently Edublog is in the process of switching servers.  Regardless, I have been considering switching to WordPress for several different reasons.  While at NECC I was still unable to submit new posts, so I did create a new address.  Look forward to continuing the conversation and see you at the new spot.

Enjoy your day,

Our school has recently finished the first year of our iPod initiative. This program issues iPods to students for use in classrooms and for educational purposes. I had my perceptions and observations of the program, but felt that it is important to get the perceptions and observations from the students. As the first year of the program we only issued the iPods to Freshman students and during their English classes the Freshman completed a survey I created with the recommendations from others in our technology department. The survey has multiple goals; primary of which is to assess the students ease of use and type of use. This is because the success of the program is for the benefit of the students. The second main goal was to understand the level of use by the various disciplines. After all, the success of the program is dependent on teacher incorporation. In general the results were positive, reassuring, and helpful in planning for next year.

Student previous technology experience and growth of knowledge:

In breaking down the program the first item of my concern is student technology knowledge. Prior to the start of this program my assumption and perception of student technology knowledge is that students already know how to use such technologies and can figure out programs through repeated use. I based part of my assumption on my perceptions of the students in my classroom. I began using podcasting and blogging as a tool for education two years ago. I consider myself a digital native, I grew-up with Apple IIe, Oregon Trail, and the original Nintendo. I taught myself how to use the websites and software commonly included in Web 2.0 applications. When I introduced these applications to my class, it never occurred to me to teach the students how to use the websites. It took a short time for my students to became proficient in these application and shortly after that other teachers became curious about how I my students used such tools. I noticed that with many teachers the first question was how long it took me to teach my students how to use the sites and applications. It was only then I reflected on my assumption and actions, or lack of.

Based on these experience I held the same assumption with the iPods: students know how to use such technology and with time they will figure out more practical uses through experience. The results of the student survey supported my theory. The average student response was in agreement or strong agreement that they previously have used an iPod or MP3 player. While not as high statistically, student response was also between agree and strongly agree for comfortable using various technologies and instant messaging. Students also supported my belief that repeated use allows for comfort in applications. It is no surprise that the viewing and downloading of video and audio files received a high comfort rating. What is encouraging is the increase in comfort in using the flash drive component of the iPod. Previous technology experience identifies flash drive use with a 3.81 rating our of 5. In the growth of technical knowledge category using the iPods as a portable flash drive earned a 4.18 rating out of 5. While this is not a statically substantial increase, it shows that positive growth occurs. As a school that prides itself on the student technology use, the growth of student technical knowledge in the Freshman year is a step in the right direction.

Types of use in the classroom:

More important to me was how students use iPods and in what classes. The top five uses, according to the ratings, are 1) viewing presentations and/or images, 2) portable hard drive, 3) view text or written documents, 4) listen to audio for foreign language classes, and 5) as an audio recording device. All of these scored above 2.75 out of a 5 point scale demonstrating regular use over the course of the grading period. The use of the iPod as a portable hard drive and to view presentations, such as Power Points, scored on a regular monthly use. These results mirror those aspects the students feel are most beneficial. An overwhelming majority felt the using the iPod to view presentations and as a portable hard drive is a benefit. A majority of students also felt listening to educational audio and viewing text is a benefit. Surprising to me, recording audio did not meet a majority level as a benefit, but I feel that is because of the lack of awareness by teachers on how to use this tool rather than anything else.

Year two:

Our school has already taken the steps to prepare for the program next year. While the students demonstrated how they feel an iPod is best used in education and that they are comfortable with the technology, they also relayed to us that not all of the teachers are comfortable. To educate the teachers and increase a comfort level for them our school is offering two training session this summer. I will present the first workshop next week, before NECC, and one after the conference in the middle in July. I feel that summer training sessions are great for several reasons. The first is that excuses are more difficult to form when the stress of lesson planning and grading are absent. Another is that optional, summer sessions allow those willing to take the time to prepare for the success of such programs to demonstrate this desire. I hesitate to require such sessions, because then you often get people who do not care about the program. We will be following up on these summer sessions during our in-service week prior to the start of school and with sessions through out the school year as well.

I have created a wiki, password is education, to aid these workshop and I will keep you updated as to the results of these workshop. I would love to hear your comments on using iPods as an educational tool and invited you to contribute your ideas to the wiki.

I previously read an article reporting that schools have began banning iPods in an attempt to outsmart cheaters. The article published on eSchool News Online and redirected to Yahoo News (unable to locate orginal article, but located a copy published by USA Today) stats that schools are aware that students are now using this technology to cheat on exams in a variety of fashions. Among the list of methods include playing audio that provides the student with test answers, and saving the text so students can view the information on screen. Considering that cell phones have provided similar concerns, I am not surprised that some schools have to resort to these actions. I am surprised that this is news worthy. To me the fact that this is news worthy raises a few concerns.

My first concern is with the types of assessments that teachers administer. While I understand that until the College Board, ETS and other test companies find a better format to assess students; or until school districts actually spend time creating assessments that demonstrate actual knowledge teachers will continue to administer multiple choice exams. I admit it, I give one a quarter. I hate them. Personally I think that multiple choice exams dumb down the information and do not allow students to demonstrate actual knowledge. Whenever I think of a multiple choice exams I recall the lesson prescribed by my fourth grade teacher. “When in doubt, pick C.” Unfortunately there is a science to passing such exams and by not providing my students an opportunity to practice these skills I am hurting their chances to perform. What is the answer? Simply: spend more time organizing projects. Project allow students to prove actual knowledge and eliminate students from sneaking by on guessing. Until the society begins to challenge the industry that has become educational testing, and do not fool yourself it is an industry, this will not change. I am not going to spend the time detailing how mind numbing multiple choice exams. For more information on this topic read an article by my wife or Wesley Fryer.

My second concern is with the daily actions of the teachers. I trust that this is not a news flash, but people cheat. Not students, but people. People cheat the laws with they do not regard them as necessary and do not feel a high level of concern for being caught. Ever speed? That is cheating. I speed…a lot. If I am trying to make up time and do not perceive a threat to others or myself based on the environment (weather, knowledge of location, type of neighborhood) and I do not feel high odds that I will be caught (never seen a cop in this neighborhood) then I cheat. In fact cheating is such a negative word. Efficiency is a better word. The philosophic Uncle Scrooge often told his nephews Huey, Dewy, and Louie that one should “work smarter, not harder.” As a teacher and coach I teach this to my student-athletes. These are not short cuts, buy why waste energy doing something when a more efficient way exists. Why spend hours cutting your yard with a reel mower when you can use a riding mower? Why spend hours studying from a test when the teacher uses questions straight from the review and sits behind a computer or pile of papers during the entire exam? These actions are not new. I know people in college who spent the time typing the Algebra review into their calculators. They did this because the equations were exactly the same as in the review and none of the proctors paid attention during the exam. In high school, back when pagers were the new technology, I know students who typed crib sheet with vocabulary and spelling answers, reduced the size of the font, then handed them outside the door before class. The questions came from the workbook and the teacher never left the desk. People looking for an efficient way to accomplish a task is a part of our culture.

If you want to stop students from cheating banning iPods will not work. You have to change the exam and your actions. Create authentic assessment that does not allow for cheating. Make the students do something with the information rather than recite the information. I have found more success in the attainment of knowledge by my students creating a digital story demonstrating the different parts of speech than taking a multiple choice exam. I challenge someone to define how my students in creating a video that teaches and demonstrates the parts of speech know less than those students taking a multiple choice exam. In fact, I believe just the opposite because my project requires high level thinking and creativity. I am willing to bet that they will remember that video down the road, not forever, but next year. Any takers on your multiple choice exam?

Additonally you have to be active. If you are giving a multiple choice exam, be active. I clean during such exams. While I clean I can see what is going on during the exam. After my high school graduation a couple of students told our English teacher about the crib sheets that had been entering her classroom for several years. I heard from students in her class the next year she changed her quizzes and started walking around during them. Guess what declined? Both the scores and the cheating. After the risk increased, students began to actually learn the words rather than complete the task. Proof that if you have to give such an exam, you can prevent cheating by being active. Banning a iPod would not have worked in our class, why do people feel that it will work in these cases.

My closing concern is brief. Why is this newsworthy? My only thought in this is to demonstrate the low standards of some schools. To me this shows their goals are not to educate students, rather to make their jobs easier. My guess is that if the exams remain the same the students will have a new system of efficient test taking by the end of next week. That is unless the need for such assessment ceases to exist. We will have to keep working on that.

Enjoy your day,

As the school year reaches a close, a look back on several items and set goals for the next year.  Invoking a method previously reserved in athletic competitions, I am posting my goals so that the two people who subscribe to this feed can help keep me accountable for the goals below.  Anyone stumbling upon this feed can feel free to do the same.

1)  Consistency in blogging ideas:

Looking back over my previous posts I notice that the frequency of my posts is not a regular as I designed.  I can think of several reasons for this, but that is of no importance.  Bottom line is that I have expanded my teaching practices by reading the ideas of others.  I feel that my ideas and how I use the ideas borrowed, as if ideas are something I can return, are helpful to others.  Over the course of the next several weeks I will be redesigning the courses I will be teaching again next year.  By organizing these projects over the summer I feel that I will be able to blog about these plans as they come up during the school year and provide a reflection following completion.  I have gained great feedback from some of my fellow teacher on my campus and look forward to the thoughts of teachers across the globe.

2) iPods

This past year we began issuing iPods to students in an attempt to capitalize on this growing technology.  We based our plan following the movements of major universities.  Currently we are sorting through feedback from students, teachers and parents.  Personally, I feel the program was a success in its first year and look forward to sharing the results of our first year and plans for the future.

3) Advocating current technology

In the past two years I have been experimenting with various emerging technologies: blogs, wikis, podcasting, digital storytelling.  While many new technologies continue to arise, I feel that these existing tools are a great resource in education.  I will look to promote my use of these TOOLS in education.  I can see the current benefits in my students.  I see more teachers in my school using these as the talk of the benefits fill the hallways.  I plan to submit proposals to teach workshops over the course of the next school year.

4) Publish the articles I am sitting on.

While I have not been active publishing post, I have written several.  While my aim has been to review these posts and let the ideas settle, I have continued driving forward without posting these thoughts.  Over the course of the next few weeks I will be posting some of these previously transcribed words.  While the timing is off from my initial motivation, the content is still relative.  I look forward to your comments on these and future writings.

Enjoy your day,

Kyle

So in trying to take advantage of the Easter weekend and a couple of days away from the classroom I am trying to catch up on some current event reading. A side note, completely off topic, we have a couple of extra days because of not using our bad weather days and I saw snow flurries while I was cleaning up my yard. I live in Texas and it is April here. Anyway, in reading my current events I started with those I have most recently neglected. One of the reasons why I like using my Netvibes account and RSS subscriptions when reading the news is so I can compare what different media outlets deem is important and how they express this news. In read the lists of education articles one from CNN stood out first. The head line read “Study: No benefit going high-tech for math and reading”. As someone interested in promoting the benefits of technology in education I immediately stopped my browsing to read the article. To the credit of the unknown AP writer, the source of the study and unbiased reporting on the study appeared in the article. Unfortunately the headline completely misrepresented the study. One lesson my statistics professor at KU, Prof Mark Joslyn, ingrained in my undergraduate studies was to look beyond the simple numbers. Always keeping that lesson in mind I looked up the study referenced in the article.

In reading the executive summary the first item that struck me was the lack of the use of the word “benefit.” Now remember the AP writer’s headline says “no benefit” exists. However, the executive report does not use that word once. I know what you are saying, “it must be in the full report, but I do not have time to read the full report.” Neither do I, but Adobe has a great search tool and by using this tool I was able to locate the one time that the full report uses the word benefit. This use is only to note the “benefit” of an end of year exam in assessing subject matter. So now I began to wonder if the AP writer even read this report.

Giving the AP writer the benefit of the doubt, I suspended my knowledge of this search and assumed that the AP writer lacks proper vocabulary skills that comes with reading and also does not know another word for benefit. In continuing to feed my curiosity I read the executive summary. In reading I kept noticing that the report notes that no statistical change resulted after one year on using educational software. Then I realized the CNN article cites that the “effectiveness of education technology” was the focus of the study. So I re-read the report by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance and realized that the report does not evaluate educational technology, rather educational software. Again, I gave the AP reporter some slack on vocabulary usage. After all viewers of the NBC series Friends will recall when Joey went crazy with the thesaurus button and boasted about Chandler and Monica’s full-sized aortic pumps.

Unfortunately for the AP writer the bubble holding my leniency burst when I got to the page outlining the Summary of the Study. Item three notes a clear benefit of such software. In bold print it says, “When Products Were Being Used, Students Were More Likely to Engage in Individual Practice and Teachers Were More Likely to Facilitate Student Learning Rather Than Lecture.” Seriously? Could this be a benefit the AP writer clearly stated does not exist. You mean a study by an organization who’s mission is to evaluate educational statistics and “encourage evidence-based approach to education”, as noted on the NCEE’s brochure, says that educational software does not decrease test scores, but rather increases individual learning and some schmuck from the AP wire who does not even get to cite his or her name does not see this as a benefit.

It is too bad that this writer grew-up up prior to the availability of such software, because maybe then he or she would have developed a better vocabulary and maybe would have learned how to work individually rather than rely on what someone tells him or her to be fact.

On a side note, the Washington Post also reported on this study and did a better job of using vocabulary. However, this article briefly mentions the note of individualized learning and it fails to mention the name of the study or the organization responsibly for it. I do not count citing the DOE since technically the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance which is a subset of the Institute of Education Sciences which is a subset of the DOE. The focus of this article appears to be less on the benefits or the outcome of the study and more on the possible corruption and waste of money by school districts. I have an idea, stop by my classroom and I can demonstrate the benefits of technology and I will not waste the money spent on this study.

Feel free to leave your comment on this posting. I wish I could say you could do the same to the AP writer, but no such ability exists on CNN’s webpage.

I realize that the focus of my education blog is on technology, but I feel I must comment on what I feel is the most ridiculous comment of the year. While taking a break during grading this evening I read an article on CNN that states the Book-it reading program sponsored by Pizza Hut is a bad idea. Initially I was beside myself about the fact the program was still in operation. I have great memories of the Book-it program. I recall the poster in my fourth grade class keeping tally of each student. I recall our monthly book orders and being eager to order new books. I recall a monthly dinner were my entire family was able to set aside an hour in a usually busy day to go out to eat. I fail to see how this program is bad. I do not buy blaming child obesity on Pizza Hut. I could list dozens of thing I witness weekly that contribute more to obesity than pizza once a month. The position of corporate sponsorship of education is just plain stupid. It makes me cringe to use such an inadequate word such as stupid, but then again the comment is equally inadequate. Never-mind the need for private donation to assist schools in reaching goals. What about the Coke cups used by concession stands at high school sporting events? What about the drink machines? What about the Nike and Adidas logos on uniforms? Advertising is a part of our economic system. It would be nice if people with too much time on thier hands would find a productive means for contributing to society.

Technology connection: Read Mark Ahlness’s posting on SSR in school 2.0.

After attending a great session on Geo Caching by Shauna Maggs of Groundspeak my wife and I went on to find our first cache together. I see a lot of potential for this in education: geography, science, history, english. In fact, I cannot see a subject which could not incorporate Geo Caching into a lesson. Shauna also introduced a new idea called WheriGo. WheriGo is an provides an opportunity for interactive field trips. It uses GPS and reminds me of the Web 1.0 game that most of use grew-up playing, Oregon Trail. Shauna provided us with some travel bugs and I plan on taking a couple with me to Italy and seeing if they can find their goals.

Enjoy your day,

This weekend our school held the 18th annual GeoTech Conference. This year’s session proved to be the most interesting of the three I have attended. David Rumsey, President of Cartography Associates, presented the keynote. As I found out during the dinner the night prior to his keynote, Mr. Rumsey is more than just a collector of maps. He is someone who is on the forefront of technology. Through Luna Imaging, Mr. Rumsey is able to share his extensive collection of maps with everyone. Even better, it is free. Mr. Rumsey received offers from prestigious institutions such as Stanford and Yale to house his collection, but after understanding that few people would have access to his collection he declined. While currently only ten percent (a number just under 15,000) of Mr. Rumsey’s collection is available on-line, it is the software that is most impressive. Those familiar with Arc View or the klm files for Google Earth will appreciate Mr. Rumsey’s hand in pushing those applications to new limits. Those who are new to these features, enjoy the tour of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. For me the biggest treat came during the Friday night dinner. During his brief talk Mr. Rumsey outlined the process of scanning such historic maps. He mentioned his goals for the future, including a collaborative project with Flickr. Seriously? This guy is one of the top men in creating digital images of historic maps and he wants to work with Flickr to see that more people can find a use for his collect. I think that is pretty cool. Enjoy the audio of the keynote. I am working on mashing the audio with his presentation and hoping to make that available soon. Thanks to Mr. Rumsey for the book and a great presentation. To listen to the presentation go to iTunes and search for Final Curve.

Enjoy your day,

Recently our Freshman Pre-AP class finished reading selections from Plato’s Republic and applied our new knowledge. To apply our knowledge we outlined the guidelines for a new high school, Utopia High. Following our discussion of the selected book, the student outlined their ideas in groups, supported their ideas in a class discussion and finally wrote about the new school. The areas cover include the following:

Categories of people at your high school (e.g. Students, teachers, etc.)
School schedule
Curriculum
Extracurricular activities
Facilities (e.g. Libraries, labs, etc.)
Admission requirements
Causes for expulsion

Coincidentally, Edutopia published and article outlining futurist Alvin Toffler’s idea on the future of schools. I noticed this article in reading my wife’s blog, Musings From the Academy. After conducting a Technorati search on Toffler I found another blog posting on the article at CreativeClass.org. I pointed out the other blog posting to my class and they proceeded to extend the conversation outside of the walls of our class by leaving comments on the Musings blog. Angla noted to the CreativeClass audience of the discussion and expanded our audience again. When I explain to the class how many people were now involved in the discussion they were amazed. Just another example of the power of blogging. And yes, I realized following my posting of my comments of the typo.

Enjoy your day,

The start of a new year brings with it the revival of ideas. For me this means an opportunity to reflect on lessons from last semester; this to come in future posts. With the change in leadership of various political groups this means legislation. In Texas new leaders in a few arch-dioceses and at the Texas Catholic Conference have organized a rally in Austin on February 7th to demonstrate support for school vouchers. The idea of school vouchers is not a new idea, but often misunderstood by the general public.

The origins of school vouchers are found in the writings of Milton Friedman. Friedman, an unapologetic advocate of free markets, repeatedly wrote about the backwards organization of public education. Friedman wrote that the deterioration of schools was the result of increased centralization. He believed that this coupled with the new technological and political revolutions will widen the differential between the wages of high and low skilled labor. Friedman continued in his 1995 article to the Washington Post that free education markets would be the only way to weaken the current education establishment and salvage the education of future children.

A common misconception of school vouchers is that this system will force public schools to close because of a lack enrolled students. It is this idea that is central to Friedman’s position. Look at the structure of higher education in the United States. Colleges and universities operated on a system that is similar to school vouchers. The system of free market is what forces universities to maintain a competitive edge. It is this system that allows for new ideas in public institutions and new educators to maintain a system that is second to none in the world. If only the same were true for K-12 education.

It is a myth that school vouchers will force public education out of existance. What it will do is force under-performing schools to change or disappear. Is this such a bad idea? Open markets in the mail system has allowed for corporations such as UPS and FedEx to improve the package delivery system, yet the USPS still exists. E-mail and fax changed the way consumers use daily correspondence, still the USPS has not disappeared. These are only two examples of how private organizations have improved previous government monopolies.

While in college I spent a semester researching the effects of school voucher programs in Cleveland, Milwaukee and Washington D.C. Unfortunately, or maybe not, I am unable to locate my final draft. However, my research demonstrated that in all three of these cases school vouchers did not eliminate good schools. What it did was provide students at under-performing schools an option. I concluded my study the winter before the Supreme Court ruled that voucher programs did not violate the separation between church and state. The reason is that in the programs studied the voucher programs are open to both public and private schools, a true open market.

The principle of voucher programs underline the fact that voucher programs, or school choice already exists for affluent families. The current system of school districts allow families to relocate to a better neighborhood if they do not feel their school district is properly educating their children. Those who disagree with this right of families could then explain to me why in every house listing the school district holds as equal weight as the size of the property or the number of bathrooms. Sometime more.

The bottom line is that students who are not from elite families and are not able to move to a new neighborhood the way middle class families can are punished under the current system. Free markets have provided every industry in this country the opportunity to prosper to a point that the United States economy is the standard for foreign countries. Why then would this be a bad idea for education? Americans complain that low skilled jobs are being shipped overseas with the flattening of the world. Why then do we continue to allow an education system that prevents the children of these low skill workers to enjoy the American dream of a better life than their parents?