GothamEduTech

today in training

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 11:40:00 -0400

We're here in ITHS in a Blogs, Wiki, and Web 2.0 training...

Practicing with friends

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:30:00 -0400

HOw's this going to look

New Post - New Position

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:37:00 -0400

As of August 30th, I will begin a new position as a member of the Borough of Manhattan Office of Instructional Technology. This opportunity is as exciting as it is un-defined. The public school system in New York is being reorganized for the 3rd time in about 5 years and this office is one of the results of this restructuring.
So, with this in mind, I need to make a disclaimer that ALL of the commentary in these posts represent solely my personal opinions and in no way reflect policy of any office of the NYC Department of Education.
Tonight is my first evening in Maine for vacation after 3 weeks of working with a group of Staff Developers who trained about 600 teachers in the use of new technology tools for their classrooms. And hearing the participating teachers - so many snippets of conversations during these last couple dozen days, just brimming with energetic chatter about new knowledge, new possibilities, and minds full of questions of what could happen. What will they create in their classrooms with these new abilities? What will students see that they haven't seen before inside their schools? And I'm sure new ways will develop. And I'm sure that students will be engaged by these teachers in new, creative ways. And they come into the office and tell me how they've enjoyed the classes and how good the instructors are and asking when such courses will be available again.....But it's not enough.
In a system of well over one million students, and more than 1100 schools, even the training of 600 teachers in the summer is a cup of hot tea poured into an ice bath.
And then, after plotzing on the hotel bed, I switch on the tv, and on comes an advertisement for a New Hampshire state online program for teachers that is available day or night, weekday or weekend, to all the state's educators to help them develop these new skills. There is no cost to the teachers, and no limit to the number of courses they can enroll in. They can follow their enthusiasm and their need to know. And they can do it on their time, on their schedule. And there is no class size limits. This system can accommodate an unlimited public. "Unlimited" is the kind of scale that New York needs. To change the climate, we need to open as many doors to the teachers as we can design. In class, online, on site, at conference, through workgroups, with online forums....the list must be imaginitive and broad.
When we put the same kind of priority to technology in schools as we now put into the assessment agenda, we'll see the new classrooms that belong to the time we live in and not those of our parents' school days.

Our Quarterly Tech Neighborhood Part

Fri, 9 Mar 2007 14:16:00 -0500

Today was the third of our quarterly "Tech Liaisons' Meeting"!
These meetings are heavily attended, and this was no exception!

Our first speaker was Ron Fortunato of the Global Knowledge Exchange

Ron showed us an online resource called "World Wind", and incredible source for useful to teachers across the curriculum with satellite imagery from around the world; a variety of "filters" that adds information about locales, weather, landmarks, etc.

This was followed with an assortment of "Focus Groups" that concerned: Networking, Interact with a WhiteBoard, Videoconferencing, Advanced Powerpoint, Web 2.0 (my group), Inspiration software, iMovie and Claymation.

It's always a pleasure to spend the day at the Tech Center with like-minded folks. Of course most of the professional development happens in the little side conversations...on the coffee line....on the pizza and cola line....Isn't this always the case.

A Little Revolution...

Mon, 9 Oct 2006 08:30:00 -0400

David Warlick's latest post:'The Rise and Fall of the Hit - and the Textbook Industry' is a GREAT call to arms.

Bouncing off of an article by Chris Anderson in last month's WIRED magazine ('The Rise and Fall of the Hit'), David is asking the un-musical question of why don't the educators of this country take the authorship of classroom content back from the textbook manufacturers and put it online in a database to be shared by all?

"Ya say you want a revolution, well,..."
It seems too simple and do-able to be true!
I know of very few teachers who teach By and For the Book. Everyone makes their own material for their classrooms. And they make it on computers, hence digital documents.

Why couldn't a site be developed to gather and catalog this IMMENSE resource?
While it might be difficult to sift through the quantity of material that would develop, if a traffic monitor was attached to each file, with special highlighting of 'New Arrivals' to balance things out, teachers could certainly identify lessons and teacher-authors who are in synch with their classroom needs and certain trusted sources would develop and begin to rise to the top.

For that matter, with money so tight in schools these days, maybe schools should think of syndicating the content that is built by their faculties and offering it for a very minimal fee?
Put the profit where it's needed-in the hands of the school, and let the textbook companies' stockholders get a real job....

This isn't a rant, just a rambling................have to find Google's phone number in NYC and give them a call.......

Feelin' Thtupid-Time to go Back to School

Sat, 2 Sep 2006 09:33:00 -0400

It's been a Lazy/Busy Summer-Lazy July, Busy August. But I've stayed away from the ed-tech blogs presumably to clear my mind...but in the last few weeks I've been feeling "thtupid".
My work with two new schools here in NYC has begun and there are more possibilities than there is time....but it's going to be great. I have had some underlying doubts about what I have to bring to the situation, but I think that has to do with being out of the loop for a few weeks-no writing blogs, no reading blogs and it's interesting that with one morning back on the ed-tech treadmill I'm feeling much better. A good dose of Will Richardson, and my gauge is much closer to "Full".
I've noticed that I don't carry around books like I used to: reading on the subway, new ideas to ponder and put into practice. I don't know if this is symptomatic of more use of the web for information, or a little laziness....But I have missed thinking about this work over the summer. The implications that it has for large issues like human communication, knowledge creation, language development and use, communities of learning-these sorts of things.
Right now I'm steeped in pushing three schools back onto the track after the building custodians have had their way with the desktops/laptops/servers in the building and everything seems like a sudoku puzzle: "Where ARE the keyboards from this room??"
So now it's time to go "Back to School" in more than one way. Time to start learning again and it feels good- I don't like Feelin' Thtupid.

It's Summer Time!

Wed, 5 Jul 2006 11:14:00 -0400

Relentlessly, Summer has pushed aside all other agendas and forced its way to center stage.

While I'm still checking my professional email regularly, I'm trying to wean myself from the ready-made agenda of workworld and listen to other callings.
More leisurely readings of ed-tech blogs....teach myself some needed application knowledge for next year's teachers...get a "bigger picture" of Education....

Today I enjoyed an article by an education writer/thinker- George Siemens about centralized and decentralized knowledge...processes that we (as humans) lean on to contain and order our daily experiences. Very interesting and refreshing from what's often on our "daily plate".

So here's to summer. I'll be in and out through the months of July and August, but I'm going to continue thinking....

Standing on the Shore

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 14:30:00 -0400

The school year has come to an end, and - with the cuts in the Title IID/EETT Grant - our "Happy Band" has said its goodbyes to the schools we worked with, as well as to each other.
This grant has changed my professional direction for the past two years, and probably for a few years to come. I've been offered several opportunities with some wonderful schools for the year ahead and have taken on two schools for next year. They're both in a formative stage with their technology, and I feel very fortunate to help them shape what they'll do in the future.
It's really a time to stop and think. Like standing on the shore looking out at the ocean. There's such an array of new online tools, and unthought-of ways to use them. There's a bit of spin and hype with some of these tools, and the teacher has to overrule the technologist when decisions about kids' learning is concerned.
It's a very different place to be "The Teacher" and tailor every element of the curriculum to fit the student's strengths and your own personality. As a Technology Integration person, I need to develop a solution that fits all the parties: kids, teachers, subject matter, tech infrastructure, and skill levels, while furthering the objectives of the teacher in charge.
It's easy to get caught up in all the latest wundertech, but here at the end of June 2006, I think it's best to stand on the shore of next year and digest and wait for perspective to seep in.....

For Free Take, For Buy Waste Time...

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 15:47:00 -0400

My Dad used this phrase from time to time in our family hardware store in a variety of contexts...But it comes back to me in the same way. Like now.
Just thinking of some of the fabulous free online resources/web apps that can be turned to our benefit in the classrooms. Besides the more common Flickr, wikis, and podcasts, I'm curious to know what other free resources/tools that teachers are using these days.
It seems very good business sense to put these new tools in the hands of students and teachers-for the benefit to the kids-and on a less altruistic note, for the customers they'll soon be.

An Essential Question

Mon, 29 May 2006 07:56:00 -0400

It's been a LONG time since my last post.
A lot of paperwork, career questions, mounting frustration, and needing to back up a bit for perspective...it took a couple of months.
So-I'm reading my ed-tech blogs/feeds and see this one from David Warlick. Provocatively titled "Curriculum is Dead", the idea is sensible enough to me. Technology is the parchment of our day and ALL students need to know how to write on it.

I'm on his team with this.

What has prompted my two months of silence is that in NYC public schools-and I'm sure in many urban settings-the classroom environments seem too "conflicted" yet for this vision.

I'm certain that there are many factors contributing to what I see in some of the middle school classrooms I visit: unmet needs on SO many levels; administrator's agendas that are wildly misfit to classroom realities; priorities that are determined day by day ("...there's a walk-through today...make sure you have x, y, z in order..."); student's "realities" built on media marketing imagery; almost no natural quiet for kids to experience....

This is not a comment on Teacher's efforts. Most teachers try very hard to do the right thing each day-sure, there's always room for improvements and new insights.

What I'm really troubled with is the level of restlessness that our kids exhibit-the degree to which our culture has juiced them up on a relentless stream of media hype. Through "lowest common denominator" thinking, we're being herded into place to supply audience to meaningless, thoughtless, superficial campaigns to move resources (time and money) from us to "them" with the same intentions of a street-wise pickpocket.

Kids seem to be more subject to raw manipulation and muscle-twitch reaction without the benefit of reflection, and consideration. As Miguel Guhlin recently posted:

...what really bothers me is that rich kids control the computer, while poor kids are controlled by it...

Watching student's using school technology to check out sneaker ads and visit/download their celebrity's latest photo shoot, while a Math class focused on an Excel project glides by unnoticed just stops me in my tracks.

Just this week, while listening to NPR, I heard a piece about Hazel Haley, the Lakeland Florida High School teacher retiring after 69 years on the job. With such deep experience, she notes little significant change in young people today-with one exception. A quote from her interview is below-it speaks volumes...

Academically, is that they no longer are remotely interested in acquiring a body of knowledge. Today's young people-'I will learn it for the test-I'll do well on the test, and then I will...flush it.

We are off the track, folks.

Why Web 2.0?

Tue, 4 Apr 2006 20:06:00 -0400

David Warlick has a posting today that really prompted me to write...
These new technologies are fantastic, with loads of potential, but lately I've had doubts and I've wondered whether teachers will adopt these new tools and why-with their incredibly tight schedules-they would want to or feel compelled to jump into the learning curve that is necessary.
Well, David hit on a point that is hard to argue with. While curriculum seemed to stand still for quite some time-books seemed to maintain things in a static way with their unchanging typed text. But as David points out, this world is changing rapidly-if you keep up with technology you know how fast this is...
Clearly the only source that changes fast enough to keep up is the internet. I had the thought that I don't buy books much anymore, but that's not true. However, I think there's another idea evolving here that I WOULD (and DO) buy books for "vintage" text, classic fiction, etc. but for ANY contemporary information I would be foolish to look to bound text. Like a new way of parsing out information and the forms that it takes. Books - which I love - have a role to play, but they don't fulfuill all the needs that learners have at this point in time.
Anyway, this seems to me a very good point as to why teachers might/should feel compelled to wade into all this newness. Even with all the demands on their time, I really know very few teachers who are willing to pass poor, old information to their students. So to accomplish their essential goal, teachers and schools need to move to the internet for content. Anything less just won't get the job done.

Feeling the Burn

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:38:00 -0500

I'm sitting across the table from a company rep who is giving us free resources: books, training, maybe computers, tech support....The kids will read, then take a test. Read, then take a test. Read, then take a test. Read, then take a test.(Okay, I'll stop.)

It's at no cost to the school.

My Dad used to say: "For free take, for buy, waste time."

So we say "Yes!". Well, I didn't say anything: ("Must keep mouth closed. Must keep mouth closed.")

All I saw before me was a plan to harness children to administrative reports. There was no doubt which party would benefit the most from this transaction. And I could feel how tense my muscles were. This company rep was not a threatening character. Bringing free supplies and resources. "It will improve students' reading."... There were "shortcomings" in our public schools reading programs....There are no costs to the school....

But I can feel the burn.

I've been hearing an angrier tone in some of the edublogs these days and as I pictured our students dutifully responding to the online multiple choice tests in order to shore up administrator's professional prospects, I could feel the warmth I've always associated with teaching children just get up and leave the room.

This is a cold time in education.

Flickr, and Wikis, and Blogs.......Oh My!

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 17:24:00 -0500

Spent a terrific day at the Mid-Hudson NYSCATE Conference
Some great people there. Good organization. And resting on top of all this was Will Richardson as the keynote!
Will's understanding of the sweeping changes that these new tools offer is something that should be available first-hand to all educators. Throughout his keynote he gave us ways in to this new space: "Age of Authorship"; "Push vs. Pull Education"; "Hand it In vs. Publish It"; "Teacher as DJ". All these handles of doors to new ways ended with his final question: "What are you willing to trade from your old classroom?"
It's a question that allows us room to let the familiar live as long as we need it, but doesn't allow us to ignore the possibilities that now stand before us.

A quick lunch and Will was back with a 2 hour workshop on "RSS-The New Killer App for Educators". This was a high octane sprint through the basics of rss (Real Simple Syndication) through a Bloglines aggregator; to provide updated search results; to subscribe to weblogs among some of its uses. Then it was on to Flickr, Del.icio.us, Furl and Suprglu. He was anticipating "glazed eye syndrome", but most stayed in with him to the end, though some were a bit out of breath.
It's events like these that can bring new life to teacher's development. While it's wonderful that organizations like NYSCATE provide this opportunity, you have to ask - what could our schools be like if this need was recognized and incorporated into the fabric of systems of education like public schools? What if schools were places of learning for everyone-not only the young ones? Wondrous things are about if only we open new doors. I saw a few of them today. Thanks Will!

Back On The Horse

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 21:52:00 -0500

Okay, national priorities are not what they should be. Now "Back to the Game".
With barely three months left in the academic year, there's interesting work to do.
So today I investigated a few wonders of "Flickr". Reading about it in Will Richardson's book, I had to try out the "add note" feature. This is just too great to be free-but it is! Flickr is an online photo library. You can create your own account, post your own photos, search for images-the implications for classroom use are impressive.
So in the weeks ahead, I'm determined to bring all the "emerging technology" I can to the teachers I'm working with. So wikis, and flickr, and podcasts.......oh, my!
I'll make sure to post the links here...

Technology Funding: "It's Nothing Personal"

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 23:29:00 -0500

I haven't posted for nearly two weeks now.
I've continued to read my favored Ed-Tech bloggers. But haven't felt compelled to write.
I think it's the pall that's been cast over this area of education due to the massive cuts in federal funding-it's personal impact on my work-and what it says about those in positions to make such decisions.
Such sweeping cuts are seldom seen in personal contexts. Due to other needs, priorities, political persuasions student's futures are effected-but it's nothing personal.
Claims are made regarding how important it is for our country to bolster learning in areas of math and science. At the same time, funding that might put just the necessary tools before these young scientists and mathematicians is cut and their training is diminished-but it's nothing personal.
Kids in the inner cities-many who only have access to technology in their schools-may no longer have these resources either. Technology will be something they see others use on their favorite TV shows, but their futures will not include these tools-but it's nothing personal.
No. It's never personal for those people making such decisions-they will not miss a day of email or broadband internet access. But for those young people who depend on the responsible adults to prepare them for the "global marketplace" it's personal.
What could be more personal than your future-why do we act like it's only business?

Tech & The Test

Sun, 5 Mar 2006 17:25:00 -0500

I've been thinking about this for a while...
It seems to me that there are two looming agendas these days in Education-at least these two are looming large in my experience: Tech & The Test.

While technology can be harnessed to provide repetitive practice and maintain precise records of performance through various applications, I think it's getting more press for it's ability to send students off on their own learning paths that seem to resist standardized testing and assessment frameworks.

I know that as I spend time with three Middle Schools here in NYC, I'm very popular for the tech support I can provide at times, but it's harder to make inroads into teachers' approaches to curriculum in ways that mean "change".

I think teachers would take these new tools and run with them if they weren't so anxious about upcoming testing schedules.

At times it seems that these two agendas are essentially at odds.

Technology creates student driven investigations and teachers function more as guides or facilitators. The scope of information online can be so enormous and creates explorations that can be quite divergent and expansive.

Testing on the other hand is about answers and is inherently convergent-certainly not expansive.

Can these two happily coexist?

I'd like to hear others' opinions on this...

(3/6/06)Post script on this: I just read an entry from Will Richardson's Blog that hovers around just these issues. Though the title is "The Future of Blogs", at its heart it addresses the questions I've been thinking about.
(3/7/06) Another post script: Wesley Fryer has something to say in his "Kids want engaged learning". Take a look.
(3/12/06) Okay-Last Postscript, I Promise! But David Warlick just put up an entry that speaks to this issue as well.....a little synergy....a little serendipity....or maybe an issue that's going to gain prominence in the months/years ahead?...you be the judge of David's ideas.

A Great Meeting!

Wed, 1 Mar 2006 16:56:00 -0500

Just wanted to give a "shout-out" to the Region's Instructional Technology Specialists for putting on a great all-day meeting today!
There was a HUGE turn out and I heard that the presentations were very high quality. I happen to KNOW that the food was good....

I was asked to present some information on Blogging in general and for the classroom. Last night I decided to simply put it all in a wiki so that those attending could join in rather than listen and watch. For those who could use a little intro into blogging, take a look-it couldn't hurt.

The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:20:00 -0500

This morning I "sat" for the NYSTCE examination for Educational Technology Specialist at the Jacob Javits Center. An early morning start (7:45 a.m.) and an immense, long line-there were other exams being administered as well....LOTS of other exams.
It seemed very "stock & trade" kind of questions-avoiding platform issues and specific commercial application references. It also showed its age. It was almost entirely focused on installed application use, making virtually no references to the burgeoning web-apps that seem to multiply daily. While I've only been out of the classroom for 18 months (after 16 years in-class), I don't think I could possibly run a classroom in the same way now as I did in the past. Given these new venues: blogs, wikis, podcasts, flickr, etc....a paper document-while still giving students options- are anchored to the classroom and the desk where they live. They can not be shared, seen, discussed, critiqued, applauded or condemned by anyone from anywhere unless they're in that room, and at that desk.
Middle school is painfully saturated by student's social environment. What a better match for these students than to have a 24/7 stage for their work where others in and outside their community can dialog about their ideas and enthusiasms.
I know that there has to be some safety and protection provided to sensitive egos, and this can be done. But there's no doubt in my mind that these new technologies are not only "madd cool", but show us new ways that draw students' interest and creativity, and show the age lines of paper-bound assignments.

"The King is Dead! Long Live the King"

I've Been Absent for Three Weeks?

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 20:15:00 -0500

Just noticed that it's been a long, llloonngg, time since posting.
Not that I haven't been reading other tech educators' blogs. There are always things to consider in this area of education-a constant flow of innovations to learn about and incorporate.
I think the funding cuts to EETT/Title IID have stunned me a bit and created some questioning of the future opportunities in this field. So much seems to rest on federal and state leadership in this area to make it happen. Building this new infrastructure requires serious investment. In the absence of this, there have to be very resourceful, clever, resilient leaders to do what needs to be done in spite of the the political mood shifts that wash over public schools.
There's no doubt in my mind that we are far behind the curve with technology in the schools. There has been so much ground opened up and schools have barely tiptoed into into this new territory.
Maybe we need to push innovation; be relentless and insistent; make some noise and advocate to bring these new skills to students who will need them.
It's time to network; to pull together; to make things happen; and to move the bar up without hesitation.
It's also time to invite others to our blogs-including mine.

Where the Learning Happens...

Sat, 4 Feb 2006 17:00:00 -0500

After spending a rainy February Saturday with a group of teachers charged with training teachers for One to One environments, I've confirmed again what I've been suspecting: Professional Development sessions are excellent places to learn things..............however....

It's often during those little side conversations or during brief coffee breaks that some of the most potent infogems get passed between folks.

I was there to co-teach two sessions. And I did learn some things in the process of presenting the ideas to the people there. But in the end, I think I learned much more than I taught.

It's just a funny truth that you sit quietly, patiently, attentively - then hit the jackpot with new tricks during the intermissions.

Business is picking up - A good day

Fri, 3 Feb 2006 20:39:00 -0500

Well, after months of delays, missteps, ill-informed advice, and crises of the moments...finally put the last software into place that we purchased through the Title IID Grant.

I have a considerable amount of training and experience in reading intervention, and one of the researchers I've always liked is Louisa Moats. She consulted in the development of "Lexia" software and I chose to add it to our school's applications. So today it finally blossomed on our screens!

Maybe it's a flaw of character, but I think so much better of myself when the projects I'm involved in go well......and the opposite as well. So Wednesday's PD caused a loss of my 'techno-mojo' and today put it back in place.

So as I strolled downtown heading to my apartment...the air was sweeter, the sky was bluer, the evening was delicious...Or was it just because I pushed the pebble up the hill......and it stayed there.
Here's a picture of Washington Square Park this evening.
Maybe the air WAS really sweeter.

Bumps along the road

Wed, 1 Feb 2006 21:03:00 -0500

"We regret that we are currently experiencing technical difficulties....."

Well, during a Smartboard training for a group of teachers in our Region, that was an understatement.
Just one of those occasions when one snag upon another until momentum and confidence are broken a bit and all you want to do is crawl away or move the hands ahead on the clock...

There's another session next week, and it will surely be different.

A Place for the Manual Arts

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:39:00 -0500

In Seventh and Eighth grade, I had wood shop.

I also grew up in my family's hardware store in a small town in northwest Indiana.

Here in New York, kids still like to work with their hands, and my school's MOUSE Squad always responds when there are machines to open up and get into.

Today with much curiosity about creating their own podcasts, half of the group still chose to chase down some iMacs in need of new clock batteries. Clearly, showing skill and technique with their hands still holds a lot of pleasure for young people.

It's a loss that "Industrial Arts" are no longer available to them.
Let's hope that desktops remain subject to screwdrivers for a long time to come.

Trickle Down....Or Grass Roots

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 18:40:00 -0500

The January days seem truly gloomy...or maybe it's this sense of "limbo" as to how and where we are in bringing knowledge and new ways to the teachers and students we serve.
Teachers seem so overwhelmed. It's painful at times to ask teachers to spend the little planning/thinking time they have during the day to spend talking about techno-wizardry that may take time to learn that they simply don't have.
Just away from the classroom for a year and a half, I have a lot of sympathy for the teachers and am caught between this sympathy and my wish to bring a potent, strong impact on these schools with technologies that could refresh these typical urban school environments.
But do I PUSH in, or should these priorities (and hence schedules) be set from school administrators with vision of what's to come? In the midst of test preparations, expanding academic expectations, high-stakes assessment, and micromanaged teacher schedules, how to make room for a future in schools that are so dictated by the past? It seems like these issues will only be resolved by educational leadership that is more agile, more thoughtful, more curious, more secure, less dogmatic, less backward-leaning, less frightened of bold policy.
Can demand in the classrooms push reluctant, overwhelmed administrators to allow new processes to blossom within the walls of their beleaguered buildings? Will it rest on the student's enthusiasm to push the school's instructional path from it's traditional ways? Will teachers catch fire to this new element and use their influence to alter their student's future?
Or will it take a few Principals, Superintendents, State Education Officials to look ahead to see what opportunities must be made for those who need a new education.

Opening Entry!

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 20:06:00 -0500

I've been reading some of the great ed-tech blogs (Will Richardson, David Warlick, Stephen Downes, Clarence Fisher...) but decided to finally wade in to this new world. Hopefully as I learn more about the possibilities first-hand, I can lead other teachers and students in this as well.
Of course my initial concerns about this venue for the kids include: online safety, regular and easy access to the web, appropriate use of the blog environment....and then making good use of blogging in a way that fits with their "school life" and their "life life".
So it will start here and today. I'll find out how this can work in a way to make the words they read "Theirs".