Digital Does Not Always Mean Powering Up

About five years ago I was invited to speak about emerging educational trends to the executives at a well known publishing and distribution company. The CEO of the company warned me that the executives understood how to use educational technology because they had been using Power Point for years. This statement immediately told me that the executives at the company did not have a strong understanding of current technological trends. They thought they did. But, they did not.

How many educators and educational developers think that they use technology well but in reality fall far short of the mark?

I suspect that most educational developers are very weak when it comes to developing high quality educational resources that take advantage of technology. This morning I have been reading about blended learning and distance learning.

I had a thought.

Is there necessarily a difference between the kind of learning that takes place in a face to face classroom and the kind of learning that takes place in a synchronous learning environment? The answer is "of course not". Educators can talk at students in both face to face classrooms and synchronous learning environments. On the other hand, they can also engage students in meaningful learning in both types of environments. Just because learning takes place in an online learning environment does not mean that educators are taking advantage of advanced technology. Nor does it mean that students are "powering up".

Children and adolescents are used to going on online. This is what they do. At one time going into a synchronous learning environment would have been novel and invigorating in its own right. But this is no longer the case, particularly for digital natives.

There are so many invigorating activities that can be accomplished online. It is an absolute waste of time when educational resources do not take advantage of these incredible possibilities.

If you are interested in seeing just one example of an innovative educational resource that takes advantage of the Internet and online learning contact me. I have developed a series of units using Google Earth as a curriculum wrapper and I'd be happy to send you one complimentary.

It's Not About the Technology

My organization, A Pass Educational Group, has recently been asked to work with a major publisher designing instruction for blended courses. Today I was looking at an outline of a seminar on blended learning and I realized that the author understood the role of technology in learning. The author articulated an objective as, "Making the technology fit the skills you need to engender."

It's not about the technology. It is about mastering specific knowledge and skills. Technology is only beneficial if it helps students fulfill this mastery.

Years ago, I had a conversation with my mother who is not an educator but is a very smart person. I told her that I thought that every school should have a computer class for every grade, just as every grade has a math class. My mother correctly told me that I was wrong. Unlike math, computer/technology is not an end in and of itself. Rather it is something that promotes the learning of something else. (In a different blog post, I can consider whether or not elementary and high school knowledge should ever be an end in itself.)

My mother knew many years ago that technology is not an end in itself. But, interestingly many school districts and curriculum developers continue to look at computers, Web 2.0, and technology as meaningful in their own right. My friend Michael Johnson has told me that he always tells schools that have stand-alone technology plans that they are going to fail. For technology is not meant to stand alone.

I think that my work on the blended courses is off to a good start. For my colleagues obviously know what they are talking about.

Apple's Apps

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "A Playland for Apps in a Tablet World." The article begins, "Apple's move to open up the iPhone to outside programmers in 2008 started a software-writing frenzy. Giant companies and bedroom tinkerers alike rushed to get their applications into the App Store and onto the phone's 3.5-inch touch screen.". It continues, "Now those developers are about to get a bigger stage - or at least a bigger screen."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Imagine that you worked at Microsoft, a software developer. What would this article make you think about? Why?

2. What three questions do you think that all software, or app, developers should ask before creating a product? Why?

3. If you were asked to invent one app that would promote high quality school learning, for any grade and subject area, what would you develop? Why?

4. If you could only have one, would you prefer to have your own tablet or iphone? Why? (You could have another phone, just not a smart phone.)

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. If you could make a computer that could do one thing for you what would you make the computer do? Why?

2. Do you prefer using large computers/games or small hand-held devices? Why? Is it possible that you like them both for different purposes? Explain!

3. Do you think that you would have fun making computers as an adult? Why or why not?

4. Think of one game that you like to play. What one rule would you create to make the game more fun? Why do you think that this rule would make the game more fun?

A Supreme Court Decision

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Lobbyists Get Potent Weapon in Campaign Finance Ruling." The article begins, "The Supreme Court has handed lobbyists a new weapon. A lobbyist can now tell any elected official: if you vote wrong, my company, labor union or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election." It continues, "'We have got a million we can spend advertising for you or against you — whichever one you want,’ a lobbyist can tell lawmakers, said Lawrence M. Noble, a lawyer at Skadden Arps in Washington and former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Do you think that corporations should be allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to support political candidates? Why or why not? Try and argue both sides of this question.

2. Imagine that you were a United States Congressman who did not want to be beholden to large corporations and lobbyists. What plan might you develop to ensure your re-election despite these powerful campaign funders?

3. Imagine that you were a board member of a powerful corporation. What three "business-smart" reasons might you have for not supporting corporate contributions to political campaigns?

4. Do you think that the Supreme Court of the United States should have the ability to overturn precedent decided by former supreme courts? Why or why not? Should this power be limited? If so, how? (Remember, in 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were inherently unequal they overturned a previous decision.)

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. Describe a time in which you had to make a difficult decision? What did you decide? Why was this decision difficult?

2. What do you think are the most important things for a judge, or a sports referee or umpire, to keep in mind when they are doing their job? Why?

3. If you could tell people not to do one thing that many people do today, what would you tell them not to do? Why?

A 45 Million Dollar Joke

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "NBC: Conan O'Brien Reaches $45M Exit Deal." The article reports, "Under the deal, which came seven months after O'Brien took the reins from Leno, O'Brien will get more than $33 million, NBC said. The rest will go to his staff in severance, the network said in an announcement on the 'Today' show."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Why do you think that Conan O'Brien refused to move the Tonight Show one half hour later? Do you think he made the right decision? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that Jay Leno acted unfairly when he agreed to move his show to after the local news programs? Why or why not? See if you can argue both sides of this question!

3. Mr. O'Brien reportedly has more than 200 people working for him? What kinds of jobs do you think that so many people have to do to put on a nightly comedy show? Do you think that it would be interesting to work for a comedy show as a staff member? Why or why not?

4. Imagine that you were a network executive trying to fill time slots from 10:00pm to midnight with the understanding that local news shows run from 11:00-11:30pm. What types of shows would you place in these time slots? Why? How would you balance the need to keep the cost of producing shows down while bringing in as much advertising revenue as possible?

Questions for Younger Children and Everyone Else:

1. What is your favorite television show? What do you like about this show?

2. Give an example of something that you think is fair. Give an example of something that you think is not fair. Why do you think that this is not fair?

3. Imagine that you were creating your own television show. What would it be about? Who would be the main character? Make it up!!

Massachusetts' 41st

Newspapers and news programs around the United States are reporting on Scott Brown's victory over Martha Coakley in the election to replace deceased Senator Ted Kennedy. The New York Times is running an article entitled, "G.O.P. Senate Victory Stuns Democrats." The article states, "...his election was a sharp swing of the pendulum. The Senate seat held for nearly half a century by Mr. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate, will now be held for the next two years by a Republican who has said he supports waterboarding as an interrogation technique for terrorism suspects, opposes a federal cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions and opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants unless they leave the country."

Questions for Discussion:

1. Senator-Elect Brown has referred to his senate seat at "the people's seat". What does this mean? Do you think that Mr. Brown really believes that his new seat is the people's seat? Why or why not?

2. Mr. Brown's pick up truck has attracted national attention, since he drove around the state during the campaign in it. Why do you think that he chose to drive around the state in his pick up truck? (He probably could have afforded a driver with a more prestigious car.)

3. Imagine that you were an advisor to President Obama. How would you recommend that he respond to Mr. Brown's victory? Remember that President Obama campaigned for Mrs. Coakley this past Sunday.

4. Perhaps Senator Kennedy knows what happened last night. If Senator Kennedy could say one thing to the American people today what do you think he would say? Why?

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else

1. Describe a time when you worked really hard to achieve a goal and were able to achieve it. What was the goal? What did you have to do to achieve it?

2. Do you think that every time people work hard to achieve a goal they will achieve it? Why or why not?

3. What one question would you ask President Obama if you had the opportunity to chat with him one on one?

Donating by Text

The New York Times is running an article entitled "A Deluge of Donations via Text Messages." Of course, this article refers to Haiti. The article states, "The Red Cross is the biggest relief organization with a system in place to receive such donations, which are sent by cellphone to 90999 and billed at $10 each to the cellphone account. The total raised, a small portion of which will be shared with other members of the Red Cross federation, puts the organization well ahead of other relief groups in fund-raising for operations in Haiti." Red Cross spokesperson Roger Lowe said, "I need a better word than 'unprecedented' or 'amazing' to describe what's happened with the text-message program."

Questions to Consider:

1. Why do you think that so many people have responded to the crisis in Haiti by donating through text message?

2. The article explains that the Red Cross has had management problems in the past. Do you think that this organization should be trusted with contributions for Haiti during this crisis? Why or why not?

3. Ten years ago nobody had ever sent a text message. What do you think that people will be able to do with a cell phone in ten years that they cannot do today?

4. Challenge yourself to do something to help the people of Haiti. Perhaps you can donate money? Perhaps you can run a campaign to encourage others to donate, as well.

Questions for Younger Children and Everybody Else:

1. What kinds of things do people need to buy to stay alive?

2. If you had no money to buy food and were very hungry what do you think that you would do to get food? Is there anything that you could do? Explain!

3. Do you think that people who have food should share with people who don't have food, even if that means that both will be a little hungry? Why or why not?

4. What kinds of things do you think that people will be able to do with cell phones in 100 years that they cannot do with them today?