Bethany's Education Blog

Moving

2007-08-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

I've decided to try an new endeavor and have started a new education blog. It is called Transparent Learning and I hope you all enjoy it.

NCAECT

2007-03-02T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm presentining at NCAECT this year - one of my favorite conferences (and I'm not just saying that because they accepted me :) I like it becuase real teachers actually come and use it for proffessional development. Its interesting to see what is on the front line of schools.

I will be presenting on Podcasting - one of my favorite subjects. I've presented on this before, but I'm hoping to make it a bit more practical in terms of showing how a teacher could actually pull this off.

I wish I could be presenting more, but NCAECT is the week before our NCATE Accreditation at the College and I'm lucky I could do this.

Oh and if you are going please be sure to come to the Keynote Speaker. I know they aren't always the most exciting thing, but this year one of my Education Technology Idols is speaking, Wil Richardson. He really has a handle on what technology we should be using in our schools, but also tempers it with the reality of schools. I hope to blog his keynote.

Being a Teacher & some GIS info

2006-08-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

There are times when I greatly miss teaching. I mean, I teach a good deal still - just in a less traditional way than I used to. There are some days I yearn for a class, a group of students of my own. To watch them grow and evolve as people and get to be apart of the ride. Being in a university setting and not a teacher of classes, I rarely if ever get any interaction with K-12 students. I work a good deal with their teachers, but its different to deal with "actual" students (and yes I do believe we are all students, but that is another discussion).

So this week I am working with a local Middle School and am presenting on GIS & GPS. I have discussed before how much teaching is like "performing" for me - and I mean that in the best way. There is something about that energy, that synergy of interaction between you and your students that is priceless. Yesterday, I made that connection and it just felt awesome. Things were going great - they were getting it and it was exciting. They were learning and making connections that far exceeded my expectations. It was powerful. I wish I could experience more days like that...

Anyways - here are some of the GIS & GPS websites I mentioned:
http://www.ncsu.edu/gisined/index.html
http://maps.google.com/
http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/education/voyager.html#special
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/longitude/find.html
http://www.geocaching.com/
http://tps.dpi.state.nc.us/geocaching/

Technorati Tags: education

Final thoughts on NECC from a first timer.

2006-07-07T22:42:00.000-05:00

I feel so inspired and so humbled by my experience here at NECC. I have so many ideas and want to do so many things, my head is swimming. In fact after I left the conference today I completely shut down and took a nap :) I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to attend this year and can't wait to come again.

My favorite highlights include:
Seeing Will Richardson's presentation
Seeing Nicholas Negroponte
Meeting other Bloggers at the meet-up (although I have to confess I was so nervous I talked to much and felt completely awkward)
Reading the other blogs - not only about the sessions I attended, but those I wasn't able to. I have a new appreciation for technorati tags
Being introduced to Ecto by David Warlick's blog - without it there would be no way I could have done what I did these past three days
Being introduced to new educational blogs that I can't wait to read more of in the future

... and on the fun side...
Seeing a panda for the first time
Margaritas in Old Town
Seeing the sailboat "Stars & Stripes"
Touring Wine Country

Come to think of it - I'm not sure I'll be able to leave San Diego....

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006

Video Games as Constructionist Learning Environments

2006-07-07T22:32:00.000-05:00

My background is tied to video game culture more than one would think. In one of my previous lives I worked at a video game testing company (teaching people to play video games is a bit weird - yet quite anecdotal). Now at The Friday Institute, one of the research strands is gaming in education, and Len Annetta's Hi-Fives project is using gaming in science, and more specifically is now having teachers create games using the half-life engine - so I'm really excited about this session.

Then I get even more surprised to find out that the presenter was at the Blogger Meetup last night. His blog is http://edtechlife.com/ - small world huh :)

Ok wow - this is the 3rd reference to Logo in two days - I think I see a resurgence. I think I need to boot my Apple IIc back up :)

Some interesting book titles:
"Don't bother me Mom..I'm Learning"
"What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy"
"Why Video Games are Good For Your Soul"
"Learning by Doing"

Websites for pre-service teachers: www.simSchool.org I work with faculty a pre-service teachers a good deal, and yes we need to do more than throw them into the lions den of student teaching as Mark says, but we are making progress at doing more than that and this does seem like an interesting rile playing tool.

He also mentions Kurt Squire a good bit who was using Civ III to help teach History. I was fortunate enough to meet Sid Meier at Firaxsis in Maryland and see some children play this game - the potential for this tool is incredible.

"Playing games does not appeal to everyone, and no one game appeals to all gamers" It is important to understand that this is not a one size fits all proposition. It isn't going to fix all your problems, but it will add a lot to your instruction.

Resources:
www.funbrain.com
www.making-history.com
www.dimenxian.com
gamesforchange.org

Creating games with students:
www.globalkids.org
garagegames.com

Video games have been with us since the creation of the personal computer, many have recognized their potential, but I think it is interesting to see how they have evolved and am curious as to what they will be next.

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006

iLearn, Therefore iPod

2006-07-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

I have just recently purchased a classroom set of video iPods for checkout and have been looking for different ways to entice the faculty to use them in their sessions. Although I have covered podcasting - now that we have the video iPods - I'd like to take it a step further. This presentation has strong possibilities for good ideas.

The project focused on using iPod's in class and shared iPods in touring the Holocaust museum. Every student created a podcast for each exhibit and a class playlist was created for all the eigth graders.

iPod Flash Card software - Zelek Software (Mac & PC) for working on vocabulary words

The facilitators loaded the iPods with images, sound clips and some movies prior to giving them to the students. This gave them a background of information to draw from when reading the book - Diary of Anne Frank. This is such a great way to introduce a new technology project such as the iPod. It allows not only the students but the teacher to see the possibilities, but yet it is not as overwhelming as a blank slate. I always run into problems when creating examples for a class - they tend to create something EXACTLY the way the example is when they have the fredom to do much more. Since this was just background (existing info they could pull up anywhere) when they created their product it didn't fit into that mold.

The students assessed the qualities of a good podcast, by looking (or I guess technically listening) to ones themselves as well as used Kirk McElhearn's list as a guide.

8 rules of Effective Podcasting: Kirk McElhearn
1) Have something to say
2) Be prepared
3) Be short and simple
4) Be clear
5) Be yourself
6) Be unique
7) Provide detailed notes
8) Don't use music filler I understand why this is in here - students have a tendancy to overuse music in all of their presentations, but I still believe music has a place from a transition point.

Some outcomes of using/creating podcasts:
-students from other classes benefited - but they were jealous
-powerful
-Museum tour guides were impressed with questions
-They understood the material so well - they didn't need the tour - they were engaged and embeded in the process How many times have we seen that it is the journey that is important - NOT the destination
-Powerful journal entries - students were more detailed and conscious of their entries
-They were very proud of what they were doing

Challenges:
Copyright - a lot of conversations about fair use - know citation info before project. This is such an ongoing issue in our schools - and its hard to know where to start - but yet it has to.....
Monitoring student work - small screen
Charging multiple iPods
Syncing iPods - synced all to one machine This is one of the huge downfalls (albiet I understand that this is part of the "I am not stealing music on my iPod" theme. When using iPods in an educational group context with check-in check-out it is almost a herendous to manage as a Palm :)
Peripherals - not available for video ipods I have

Their website vc.aces.k12.ct.us

All in all it gave me some great ideas

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006

Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything with Will Richardson

2006-07-06T18:15:00.000-05:00

I've been reading Will's site - http://weblogg-ed.com/ for awhile and am pretty excited to meet him and I am impressed right away with his use of PowerPoint - he actually doesn't have a newspaper worth of text on the slide. This is gonna be good.....

Then a great way to illustrate how blogs connect is http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/ and then some great mashups (of which I am addicted to on YouTube myself) including the voice of the infamous mac switch commercial. I'm surprised how much mashups are being displayed and discussed and am interested in the educational value of them...

Cool Web links:
1 Billion on the web and 2 billion by 2015
1 Trillion Links
70,000 new blogs each day

Some great themes are ownership, audience and the transforming of technology. Ownership of our tools, of our products, of what we create is imperative to self efficacy. This idea has been pretty pervasive today. Negroponte noted that he hasn't had a laptop broken as frequently due to this ownership. Audience, having students understand that they have a global audience, not just a teacher - drives them to preform to this audience. It makes every assignment a science fair project! Making them all publishers and owners.

Cool terms to use in the future:
"Rip, Mix, & Learn"
"Teacher as DJ"

43 things - creating a community of learners (for those of us that don't have the following Will has)

Social Networking - harnessing the power of MySpace (and I've just blogged about MySpace to much lately) But he brings up some excellent points about who and how are we teaching our students to use and navigate the web responsibly. Will is also not afraid to stick his neck out and shock the group about what we have become numb and deem acceptable.

I wish I could write more but I find myself being too captivated....I'll have to process more on this one - Thanks Will :)

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006, willrichardson

Being Digital with Negroponte

2006-07-06T14:45:00.000-05:00

I was first introduced to Nicholas Negroponte by my father when I was in college. His book "Being Digital" was one of the first books my Dad gave me as a "peer" who was interested in computer technology (in my "I want to be an engineer days"). It was a very inspiring book that inspired me about the possibilities. I had just designed my first web page and was excited about where we were going.

Hearing Negroponte speak today was just as inspiring. How awesome is it that someone has a vision and then does it - and it just happens to be a technology one. His idea of the $100 laptop is quite a one. He also is not afraid of sticking his neck out about. Not many people (in his position - bloggers have no issue) about speaking out against Adobe or Microsoft or Intel, even when he knows those vendors are in the room.

Yet, his laptops are geared for a global audience. I think there were a good deal of teachers in the room that wanted to know - "What about us?" I have two ideas on that subject 1) We actually have the money in the US to make some changes and a 1-to-1 is possible, we just have to convince the right people we should do it. 2) Once this $100 laptop has been created and has been "proven" as a useful tool. Other laptops will follow in line after that mountain has been climbed and it looks like Negroponte is the man to do it.

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006

The Read/Write Web - Tim Wilson

2006-07-05T17:33:00.000-05:00

The Read Write Wed - or Web 2.0 is gaining a lot of momentum. It is such a robust subject - I'm excited to see how the topic can be covered in 1 hour :) There are a few topics I am interested in the most and will discuss here:

Wikis - "The chaos that you would think would happen - levels off to pretty high quality" Wikipedia scares so many people, but it can be almost an "aggregator" of information in and off itself. It brings all the information together and is a great jumping off point. Tim makes an excellent case for Wikipedia not being the be end and end all. I'd like to add that any information on the internet should be verified by another source. ANYONE can put up a webpage and claim facts - wikipedia has the advantage that "the World" gets to edit it.

Wiki School projects: Find unfinished pages and assign your students to write the article. Have them contribute to the knowledge of the world. I can't believe I haven't thought of this one before!

"Every student blogger is a publisher for a worldwide audience" - Audience makes the difference...

Challenges:
Safety - keep student work on your network & servers. You need to be able to "pull the plug"
Monitor what your students are doing
Teach about appropriate online behavior
Young people WILL encounter weirdos, online or not - Educate them about safety, not shielding them from it. I gave a talk about blogs, etc. the other day and MySpace (as it enviably does cam up). We need to harness the power of myspace and use it for *good*. Why not take that energy, that passion and funnel it into blogs in an environment that is safe and productive (and seriously - have you looked at some MySpace pages lately - they make my head hurt, has no one talked about good web design lately :)

Professional Development:
Not "just in case" - "just in time" Teach teachers that are interested about a topic. That is harder than it sounds. I would add to that a more contructivist viewpoint where not only do we teach those that are interested about a topic (and possibly that is where web classes come in, but I digress) but also help them create what we will talk about, being flexible enough to have a course meet their needs. I was just recently apart of a workshop where we found out what topics the teachers in a school would be covering in the upcoming weeks and had training on specific technologies to help with those topics. The teachers were able to use what they learned in less than a week!

Administrator have to step up to the plate - leading by example. A principal can make or brake a school in many ways - but leading by example is one of the most important ones. I actually come at it from a different prospective as well - since I mostly deal with educators of pre-service teachers, I am working with them to be examples of technology use so that when are next crop of teachers come out they have the tools they need.

Now the big question - How do you assess students?
Curric standards for information literacy
Rubrics across units and classrooms
De-emphasize individual assessments
Embrace self-assessment (This has to be implemented well in order for it to make a difference - I have seen and had to be apart of reflections that have gone horribly wrong)

In the end will Web 2.0 be the future of the Internet? More and more the web, as Tim put it, is becoming an Operating System in itself. I for see a day when the norm is being online instead of the other way around.

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006, timwilson

Podcasting & Podcatching Session

2006-07-05T12:59:00.000-05:00

I have been looking forward to this session since I found out that Lisa & I were going to NECC. This is not only a subject close to my heart but I have been following most of these speakers since I became interested.

Larry Anderson the "technobutler" who brings people together: (all apple distinguished educators)
Ted Lai - LA, Calif - Co-author iLife '06
David Warlick (near and dear to our Raleigh hearts)
Lucy Gray - MS Science Teacher - Friday 5 podcast
Tim Wilson - The Savvy Technologist

They have put together a page for the session: http://nctpcast.libsyn.com/ and we will be co-authoring notes on a wiki page

Why do we use an iPod - or any other mp3 player - "timeshifting" being able to take it with us - sometimes called "narrowcasting" (I love how tech gurus always come up with new terms :)

One of my favorite things about these sessions is seeing how other people present the same material that I do - see what they say

"A podcast is a blog that is an audio file" - the term podcast "scares" so many people, it seems so foreign to people. Others fear it is just a "Mac thing" - I almost wish we could change the term to really indicate it as a just an audio file.

Also important are the parental controls in iTunes that allow teachers and parents alike to control what CAN and cannot be downloaded. Downloading is such a big issue in our schools, but if we can show control and that we are on top of it. Pre-viewing content is important - it is on the Internet after all.

Another cool term - "Soundseeing tours"

Some cool podcasts:
Radio WillowWeb - teacher Tony Vincent
Tech Savvy Girlz (I love this one)
Ask an astronomer - video podcast from NASA

Some recording equipment: and the wiki has some really great gear pages
iPod & iTalk
iRiver (mic built in)
MicroTrack 24/96

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006

21st -Century Skills & High School Reform

2006-07-05T11:28:00.000-05:00

My first session of NECC is on the 21st Century Skills partnership. At the Friday Institute we are very involved with the partnership. We had the opportunity to meet a few of the key players a few weeks ago. I am also on a team that will be doing some workshops in the Eastern part of NC in conjunction with the partnership.

21st Cent Skills are highly focused on the partnership between business and education.

I like their critical need for skills:
1) Need our students to be effective 21st cent citizens
2) The world is flat (I feel like this is the #1 buzzword and a must for all presentations lately)
3) US is falling behind - we are 7th in math & problem solving (Japan is first)
4) The magnitude of our competition is changing - looking at skilled workers
5) The nature of work is changing - we are changing jobs and the jobs that we are in change. I once heard that it didn't matter what you received a degree in, what counted was that you had survived college and that is what made the difference (although that could be my Dad just trying to get me to graduate )

How many jobs will you have between 18 & 38? 10.2 - I certainly feel that. I have had four jobs in 7 years, and that is considered normal.

What is the framework? Why does the model change?
They've added the following to core subjects (from NCLB):
Life Skills (Personal Skills)
21st Century Content
Learning & Thinking Skills
ICT Literacy (information and communications ) NOT Tech competency - using it effectively, making it an actual TOOL!

What do schools needs to do?
-Professional Development - specifically for 21st Cent Skills
-Identifying mentors
-Use a full range of assessments
-Use senior year projects and student portfolios

The focus of 21st Cent Skills is very focused on thinking, problem solving and communicating. How we assess and evaluate that is going to be the biggest challenge.

Technorati Tags: education, necc, necc06, necc2006

NECC 2006 - San Diego

2006-07-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

I have a goal of blogging during the NECC Conference - along with a few other bloggers at the conference. I will be using several tags that will hopefully help. (necc, necc06, necc2006, and education)

Technorati Tags: necc, necc06, necc2006, education

Educast at NC State

2006-04-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

So I have finally put up a podcast on our NC State Wolfcast site! I am so excited! I am really proud of it - and in making a podcast myself - I truly understand the power of this tool.

So please check out Educast at:
http://wolfcast.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=feeds

Click on the XML "button" and copy that path into your podcast reader, such as iTunes!

Please let me know what you think of our first podcast!

Inspiration via NASA

2006-04-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

I can remember being a kid and loving to tinker with things. My dad was great about giving me the broken appliances in the house and trying to figure out what happened to them. Or giving me my brother's xmas presents to put together. I always loved the idea of creating something.

I also had a fascination with flying, and more specifically with astronauts. The 80s were big on space flight, especially for kids and even the Challenger disaster couldn't diminish that. (Sally K. Ride was my hero in 5th grade)

So when I see NASA putting forth contests, even if its to save themseleves money, all I can think of is giving it to a group of high scholl students. Let them step up to the challenge and think outside of the box. Let them learn by their mistakes and striving toward a goal.

It is the projects and the journey that I remember for my schooling (on both sides of the fence) not the lessons. Lets do some "stealth" learning - where they have fun and forget they are there to learn anything.

Pump up the volume

2006-03-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

Podcasting reminds me of the movie "Pump Up the Volume," which at the time I watched because of Christian Slater, and now, in my older and wiser days, I now understand it's cultural relevance.

Pump Up the Volume was about impowerment. Christian Slater's character was just speaking over a radio and didn't really care that or if anyone was listening to him. He just had something to say and needed to get it out there. In fact when he found out people were listening it astounded him.

I will be teaching a workshop on Podcasting on Monday and have come across some really great websites that I plan on using that I's like to share:

This is a great site that illustrates how podcasting can be used to create ongoing projects.
http://long.dearbornschools.org/podcast/Long%20Elementary/HOME.html

A great collection of podcasts done by middle school students
http://mabryonline.org/podcasts/

A storehouse of educational podcasts
http://epnweb.org/

I hope to include more posts soon about podcasts and when I get mine up on our podcast site:
http://wolfcast.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=feeds

Building a Better Blog

2006-03-10T16:34:00.000-05:00

So I figure I can't keep touting the merits of blogging if I can't even keep my own up to date. I plan on teaching a class on blogging again soon - so I better get in gear.

To give all of you an idea of what I have been working on for the past 6 months that has been so time consuming I offer the following sites:

My second home
http://www.ncsu.edu/friday/

An excelent podcast not just about education - but in this case happens to feature my best friend (the future Dr.) Sharon Dotger and myself descibing what I've been working on the past six months.
http://davidwarlick.com/connectlearning/2006/02/12/episode-54-a-the-firday-institute/

I hope to actually post a few of my podcasts to the ncsu site - http://wolfcast.ncsu.edu/ soon. When I have them up I *promise* I will post.

I also hope to post more to my other blogs (I know, I know - if you can't post to one blog what makes you think I can post to 3!) but I truely feel that part of my issue is seperating work blogging from personal blogging. So check out my other blog of geek girl stuff at: http://yourinnergeek.blogspot.com/ where I hope to post some gadgety stuff soon.

Been gone for awhile

2005-06-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged for awhile. I'm not sure why really - I guess the end of the semester can really be too much sometimes. I've also been traveling alot - but those are just excuses. I haven't been as inspired by blogging as I was in the begining (as is the fact when most things start) and now I realize that even though Blogging shouldn't be a chore, it is good for me to set goals for blogging different things. So hopefully with that in mind, no classes this summer, and a handy widget called Dash Blog on Tiger - I may actually write more :)

Yet another test

2005-04-08T08:48:00.000-05:00

Our current educational structure revolves around testing - for good or for bad. When I was a student it was the all important SAT. Today's students (and teachers and parents) are concerned with EOGs (End of Grade Testing) as well as SATs and AP exams. Some say they "level" the playing field for acceptance to college, others argue that we are teaching our students to just be better test takers. Yet, another test has been created and will soon be implemented by the ETS (Educational Testing Service) - the Information and Communication Technology literacy assessment. As discussed in thie Wired article.

The test is an interesting progression from not only previous standardized tests. It is trying to assess "How does one go about finding the answers to a computer related problem?" not just find the answer itself.

The corporate world currently has several computer tests already implemented. One of which I was oh so fortunate to take when applying for work at a temp agency. It was an interactive test that would ask where I might find a particular menu item and then I was to click on it. Now, I am no memorization queen, but I can find something through a series of a deductions. Unfortunately, the HR test only gave me one chance and although I did well I was still disheartened by the experience.

It appears that the ETS test is more progressive than the HR test I discussed previously. It will be looking at how many steps and what search tools were used to find an answer. This provides a better insight into someone's technical ability than any assessment I can currently think of. I feel that that is a true marker of success in technology - understanding how to find the answer when you don't know something and not being afraid to try different approaches (see previous gamer post).

I am concerned about preparing our students for a world where computers and technology are commonplace. Yet, I am torn. Do we really want to implement another test? Just because it takes someone a while to get an answer - should that really matter if it is the right answer. Is technological literacy something we can really test and would we ever want to?

Afraid of Red Ink

2005-04-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

Run...Run...away - its the dreaded red ink?!?!

Schools are starting to BAN red ink. It apparently has too many negative connotations and parents are in an uproar. This is once again another example of parents believing that they are the authority on what is educational. Now I am the first to admit that I am 1)Currently without children (in school or otherwise) and 2) A parochial schooled individual. I believe that parental involvement in a child's education is of the utmost importance. Understanding what subjects they are struggling in, when their projects are due, what type of homework load is expected, what grades they are getting, etc.

I have worked in several different school that have had varying degrees of parental involvement - but the minute you believe that it is in the best interest of your child to go against a teacher or a school, you need to take a second look. Now, I am not naive enough to believe that there are no bad teachers, but you need to let teacher's teach. Undermining a teacher's authority is not making your child's life any easier. It is not helping them. I see more and more students on the college level not turn in assignments and then threaten to bring the professor in front of the dean for not passing them. They have a mindset that they can get out of anything, and not take responsibility for their actions. They have even had their parents call the college. I would be embarrassed at the age of 20 to need my parents to call my teacher.

The banning of red pens for god sake! What will be next, pencils are dangerous projectiles, the use of blue paint is too depressing or heaven forbid teacher's should be banned from wearing black because it makes them look too mean and old?!!!!

It's no sacrifice...at all

2005-04-06T08:37:00.000-05:00

I feel quite introspective lately. I'm not sure what it is - I keep blaming it on the time change though :). I've been trying (like so many people) to figure out what my path is in life. I have always been on two ends of the philosophy spectrum - its either "make your own destiny" and plan to the hilt or "its the journey, not the destination" and go with the flow. So that means I'm permanently between a rock and a hard place - trying to plan and having it not work out and try and go with the flow.

I've read a few books that have added to my current stage of introspectiveness (or as my friends call it - "being in a funk") - the most influential of which is "The Dive from Clauseen's Pier." It was quite a moving novel, but it moved me in ways I'm not sure I can comprehend yet. It asks the question, "How much do we owe the people we love?" When do we have to choose between ourselves and our families, and in choosing one or the other are we in essence hurting both.

I have never made any excuses for the choices I have made in my life, and I have never considered them to be "sacrifices." I think the minute I consider it a sacrifice, it is a selfish choice and I am choosing to be a martyr - and I don't want to be that.

I guess what this is coming down to is that I am in my mid-twenties and am at a crossroads in my life. It may not seem like it to most, but I feel like I need to make some decisions instead of letting everything happen to me. I feel surrounded by friends that are living the life I want but am afraid to have. How can you want something so badly and when you finally get it - not want it anymore?

It all comes down to "What do I want to do with my life?" I been lucky in my life to happen upon good situations and have worked hard to live up to them. Yet, I need a direction, a goal that I am striving to achieve. Things are culminating and I need to make a decision and I feel I will be sacrificing something no matter what I do. I understand that we all make sacrifices in life, men as well as women, yet it doesn't make them any easier to make.

I guess I want it all; a career, a family, a house, a comfortable life. I'm not naive enough to think that I can have it all, I'm just having a hard time deciding what to sacrifice.

Video Gaming and Education

2005-04-01T15:17:00.000-05:00

Well it all is becoming a full circle - and its freaking me out a little. I have been fortunate enough to have some of the strangest positions (including the one I am in now). Trust me, normal people don't have my resume - and although I think of it as a good thing, some people do not.

Besides all the internships (Wall Street - trust me I'll get into that later), odd summer jobs (tying strings on plastic pumpkins - don't ask) and well I won't go into any more. I essentially started my career as a High School teacher. I loved teaching high school, but circumstances beyond my control - i.e. my husband got a new job, moved me to Baltimore. I believe in the theory that "everything happens for a reason" and to go with the flow. So in our new city I decided to try private sector education. Now I did not want to end up teaching Microsoft Office the rest of my life, so I looked at unique small companies. Little did I know that Baltimore was a "hotbed" of software companies, specifically video game ones.

So I ended up working at a company that supported and tested video games and educational software. We also dabbled in other software/hardware companies, i.e. pretty much anyone that would pay us, but I essential taught people how to fix computers and play video games.
(Don't ask me why I left :)

Now, this becomes full circle thanks to Tim Wilson and David Warlick who have both written about the video game generation recently. So my quirky background is actually going to do me some good!

If none of you have ever played video games, and I mean real video games (Solitaire does not count) you should really check their links out. We talk a good deal about the computer generation, but video games is an entirely different beast. And its not just the terminology, it is how they go about everything they do. I had to learn to move beyond the - "What server on Everquest do you play on?" and understand the roleplaying nature and flow of these games.

The biggest similarity that all video games have in common is trial and error. They are not afraid of failing - as long as they can try again. And yet we as teachers are so afraid of them failing and not getting it right on the first try. When do we ever in any workplace get anything right the first time! They are willing to take chance and push boundaries, yet I see us putting up fences and directing them.

The company I worked for had such a different emagalmation of employees, some that were good students, so that were not. Yet, their commonality was not just a passion for video games, but one for problem solving. I learned early on that they need to "play" with the program. To make it fail and see why it happened. I could give them guidelines or parameters, but every "failure" was going to be different. They had a drive to see why things worked the way they did and an inherent need to fix a problem.

Anyways, I think problem solving, creative thinking, and having a hypothesis that may turn out to be wrong, are all things we shouldn't be afraid of having our students explore.

When did we get so scared of the unknown?

Livin' La Vida Robot

2005-03-30T18:28:00.000-05:00

It is amazing what students can accomplish when you believe in them. I believe that is why everyone loves the movies "Stand and Deliver" or "Dangerous Minds." Believing in kids and then having them accomplish something so beyond anything you ever hoped for is a teacher's dream.

The latest addition of Wired has an article on four high school students in Phoenix, AZ that built a robot. And they didn't just build any robot. They built an underwater robot for a NASA competition for under $800! Now that may not impress most of you - but when MIT enters the same event with corporate sponsorship and a budget of $11,000 - it makes a difference.

But lets move beyond the fact that a bunch of high school students BEAT MIT in a robotic competition. Lets even go beyond the fact that these students are from a poor disadvantaged area of Phoenix. These students were given hope - a hope that they haven't had before. They are all Mexican non-documented high school students that are trying to make it in a society and a country that does not welcome them.

That is what we should be giving our students, rich or poor, ESL or ADD - we should be giving them the belief in themselves that they can accomplish anything they want to do. And the best way to do that is to have them ACTUALLY accomplish something they are good at. It was the teamwork, the teachers and the sense of accomplishing something that was bigger than themselves that gave them hope.

Video Conferencing - hailing in the year 2005

2005-03-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

This may be my first post on video conferencing in education, but it certainly won't be my last.

I grew-up in a seriously geeky family - shocking I know - that sat around and watched Star Trek- The Next Generation at the dinner table. We are officially receiving a hail and putting it on the big screen.

Video conferencing is currently my little pet project (although blogging may soon replace it :) As you can probable tell, I am a big proponent of technology in education - but only when it actually IMPROVES the educational experience.

I see video conferencing as a way that we can bring students together that may not have the opportunity to otherwise. Students from rural areas are getting to meet "city folk" and discovering that they are not that different - and vice versa. Pre-service teachers are observing classrooms and discussing student and teacher behavior. Collaborations are jumping up all over the place from researchers, to faculty, to businessmen and women. A new communication boom is coming and we need to be ready for it.

But yet it goes farther than that. There are programs like Megaconference and Megaconference Jr. that bring students and educators from all over the globe together to learn about new technologies, or share information about their homeland. We have finally gotten to the point where these virtual meetings are not only possible but probable.

There is a good deal of technology available for video conferencing - from the $50 to the $5000 variety all of which have their positive and negatives. I have given a few presentations on this topic (recently at NCAECT), but Wesley Freyer covers it indepthly in his recent article for "Technology & Learning" which he references in his blog. He was also nice enough to mention myself and some of the webpages I have worked on in his most recent post.

I hope to talk more on the subject soon. I have a few trials with a Middle school coming up so cross your fingers.

New "tools" for communication

2005-03-23T16:50:00.000-05:00

I have read a few blogs lately that have referenced how much they wish teachers would blog more often. They see blogging and RSS feeds as a way to facilitate communication between teachers, parents, and students. Now the idea of having a Homework RSS feed does excite me a bit, but the idea of using that forum to keep track of daily activities worries me a bit.

It reminds me of a job I had where my boss had a micro-managing problem, and I had to send a daily activity report. I hated it more than life itself. Having a website with an outline of what is to be covered is one thing, but a daily blog on what transpired is another. I know that "accountability" is the buzz word of the moment, yet I don't believe this is the right way to go about it.

Blogging (and I'm including RSS) in itself is not an end-all be-all tool. It is a useful tool, but a larger part of a bigger communication stream. There is still something to be said about personal e-mails, phone calls and parent-teacher conferences.

I mean all the personal, hand written, Thank You notes my mother made me write has to be worth something!?!?!!

Growth through Blogging

2005-03-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

I am completely honored that a dear friends of mine, and as I am now finding out "a name" in the world of blogging. Has referenced my blog. I feel completely overwhelmed by this. Especially since I was very concerned over my last post.

I think the thing about blogging that scares me the most is putting a piece of myself out there and INVITING other people to comment on it. The inner nerd inside of me is freaking out at the concept of asking people to dis me. And yet, as I have come to understand, it is more about sharing and growing - partially through debate, but more by questioning. If we never get personal - we will never grow.

So I promise to never get too personal, but I won't be afraid of it as much either.