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Rob Parton and the Google Earth Jazz Experience

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:37:00 PDT

Today is a super day! Know why? Because Rob Parton, jazz trumpeter and Chicago jazz scholar, will be joining us in the tech room for a little jazz music. This visit is a part of my student's project Google Earth: The Journey of Jazz. Rob will be playing and talking to us about his jazz influences, a little of jazz history, and more.

From Rob's website:

"As a studio musician, Parton has played on hundreds of both local and national radio and television commercials and many local CD projects not only as lead trumpet but as contractor. Parton has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, Doc Severinson, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra Jr., Mel Torme, Beach Boys, Christopher Cross, Sheena Easton, Peabo Bryson, Celine Dion, Nick Carter, Yolanda Adams, Josh Groban, Enrique Eglasius, Natalie Cole and Maynard Ferguson to name only a few. Parton has traveled with Natalie Cole and most recently been a featured member of the Music Now series offered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra."

I owe a big thanks to the folks at Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Arlington Heights who were able to work with me in coaxing Rob to come out to class and talk to us about jazz and jazz history as part of this Google Earth project. I'm also hoping the kids enjoy hearing Rob play. I'm sure the kids will love it! I'm attempting to show this live here, so check back around 11:50am CST!

Streaming live video by Ustream

Image of Rob via: http://robparton.com

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Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Earth: The Original Learning Environment

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:34:00 PDT

Remember the outdoors? Yes, before you were teaching that was the place you spent your time in- you know- outside? Well, the outdoors are still there. As a teacher who loves technology and science, I find myself struggling to get outside often because I'm stuck in my computer lab, and then tending to the family.

Many of us tech teachers try to to our best to "bring in" the outside world by having folks Skype into the classroom or using the Internet as a mirror to the outside world, letting kids have "virtual" experiences. A few years ago I brought in the Wilderness Classroom to my science curriculum, and with the help of the Chicago Shedd Aquarium, was able to offer my South Side Chicago students an experience they wouldn't normally have in a science classroom. You can see the results of this on one of my very early blogs.

I make it my mission to find opportunities to teach in the outdoors as much as I can, getting my podcast kids outside in the nature trail, but it looks like I might be going on a much bigger teaching adventure...

In April of next year, if all goes right, I will be joining the Wilderness Classroom on their North American Odyssey. I plan on making this trip an opportunity to teach from remote locations, to show the range of Google Apps for Education, and to have kids share in my experience in the wild. We'll use chat, share video, create podcasts, and engage with wildlife in real time.

I think that it's important to show students that adventure has no boundaries, and that learning doesn't just happen inside of a classroom. I hope to show that my desire to learn extends far beyond what an institution can offer and that I seek out any opportunity to share with my students.

Now, if anyone has some grant ideas so I can pay for all of this please leave me a comment below!

What can you learn from a first year Tech Instructor?

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:55:00 PDT

I've always been a reflective teacher- reflective on my practice, reflective on the tools that I used. This presentation is, I hope, helpful to anyone who uses Web 2.0 tools in their classroom. I was thrown to the wolves in my first year as a tech teacher, and I had to figure out a lot on my own. The projects I highlight in this presentation reflect a teacher who continually strives to find the right tools for the right process.

Google Apps for the Class: Storyboard Template

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:13:00 PDT

Many teachers are getting the bug to do digital storytelling and film making in their classes. Well, Google Docs' drawing tool makes storyboarding online- easy, environmentally friendly, and a lot of fun! Here's a 2 minute tutorial about how to use the Storyboard Template in your class. And of course, with Google Docs, many students can collaborate on the same storyboards.

Here's the link to the Storyboard Template. Let me know if it's helpful to you!

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AUKY528tgMv_ZGR3MnZxeF8xNTBmc3RudHJ6aA&hl=en

YouTube should not be blocked: here's why

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:42:00 PDT

Last week I presented at an Illinois Computing Educators mini conference, and I was surprised (aghast!) that the school I was presenting at- had YouTube blocked.

The videos that I had ready to show wouldn't play, and it just didn't occur to me that YouTube would be blocked. I'm spoiled by my own school, I know. The folks in my sessions said things like, "oh, our school has it blocked too. It's really frustrating!" And my first question is- why? (it's rhetorical)

First of all, there are many worse sites that a kid could go to and subvert the school's Sonicwall filter, if they are that persistent. Seems to me YouTube gets the bad rap because it is the most popular, and some school admins watch a lot of Dateline NBC. Some teachers were happy with the block; they say that they go to YouTube, use a tool to download the videos, and they play them from Quicktime. Seems like a lot of extra work to me, and the kids miss something in that process.

My problem with that, is that YouTube channels are becoming more of an "experience," very much like a museum trip or an historical journey.

If you're a school district administrator, and YouTube is blocked in your district, I know why you did it, but it's time to take it off. YouTube and video sharing are not the Dateline NBC headline anymore. It's not what it was. It's not what it used to be, and it's time to teach kids how to use the tool responsibly. That's called digital citizenship, and it's part of their technology standards. YouTube is now old hat.

Here's why YouTube shouldn't be blocked. (click on the image below).

Also, check out the NASA Channel. So much potential!

Google Apps in the Class: Text Coding in Google Docs

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:28:00 PDT

One of my favorite reading and comprehension strategies is the text coding approach from Doug Buehl's Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning. I love this strategy because it forces the student to pause and think about what they are reading about, therefore, helping them with meta-cognitive skills as well as their reading comprehension.

What occurred to me recently is that text coding can be done quite nicely in the Google Docs environment, and can even take on a new life when you share the document with 2 or 3 students and they code simultaneously. This way- students are also becoming cognitive of how other students are reading a document. Very nice.

In this, the second "episode" of Google Apps for the Class, I show how text coding can be done in Google Docs. Hope it's helpful!

Google Apps for Education and the Teacher's Process

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:49:00 PDT

Do these steps look familiar?

As teachers, we all use Gagne's steps, for the most part, but what I've found is most teachers may not even remember where these steps came from, me included, until recently: American Educational Psychologist Robert Gagne.

Gagne's steps were based around the Information Processing theory, where the goal was to maximize retention of knowledge (most likely- rote knowledge).

While I don't believe treating the learner like a machine (computer) is a very helpful metaphor, project-based learning and Understanding by Design models of instructional design have fashioned the Nine Steps to their liking.

The Nine Steps still work- for good lesson plan organization, and can be used for higher-order learning as well.

I've found that the Google Apps for Ed environment allows the Nine Steps to really flourish and take on a new life of their own. This presentation was given on October 3rd, 2009 at the ICE-chip Mini-Conference and explores how Google Apps transforms the teacher's educational process into the digital world.

Links that were used in this presentation:

Gaining Attention:

Google Presentation Sample, Simple Machines: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjYxY2Z6dHdnY3E&hl=en

Describe the Goal/ Objective

Google Presentation Sample: Researching the Land, 3rd Slide in: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUKY528tgMv_ZGR3MnZxeF82N2Y1Y2oyYmN6&hl=en

Stimulate Prior Knowledge:

Anticipation Quiz Form Sample: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDVBZ2trdUxVc0tMNWUwU1JvSjRyUlE6MA..

Present New Content:

Google Presentation Sample: Researching the Land, 6th Slide in: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUKY528tgMv_ZGR3MnZxeF82N2Y1Y2oyYmN6&hl=en
Text Coding with Doug Buehl, Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=8K1ZLj7W5xQC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=doug+buehl+text+coding&source=bl&ots=817q5TRJ0r&sig=PJwAngu5drM7CMwbNmTFEao4mBg&hl=en&ei=b8vGSri2Iceg8Aa1o73hCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Provide Guidance

Tutorials: Using Google Video and You Tube to embed tutorials in a Presentation:

Citing Creative Commons image tutorial: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjY0ZnRyOXJiZHE&hl=en
Using other teacher and student tutorials as guidance: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjY1Zzc4aGc2NTY&hl=en

Elicit Performance
Provide Feedback

Love Letter Video embedded in Google Presentation: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWWzaaRnYL0HZGNmZzliNjZfMjY2Z2t0d2g0amQ&hl=en

Assess Performance:

Digital Scantron Form: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEpwNm40NmtQb3RKeVJiLUpXQ29nV2c6MA

Enhance Retention

Extra links:
Google Apps for Ed
My RTI data form example

Thanks to http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art3_3.htm for the nine-steps image.

Google Apps in the Class: Creating Online Seating Charts

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:21:00 PDT

This year is my first year using Google Apps, and I'm discovering new ways to do many things- like the age-old seating chart. When you pass around the old seating chart, students inevitably write their name awkwardly or draw funny pictures, forget to put their name in, and if you don't pay attention, the seating chart gets stuck half-way around the room, and doesn't get completed! No more- I say. Let's fix this with Google Spreadsheets.

The great thing about this is that the actual time it takes students to put in their names is merely minutes. While this may take you a little time to set up, it can last forever (or at least until you move your desks around). If you have a substitute teacher, simply print them out for the sub, or share the link to view the spreadsheet online.

My final seating chart is available to view here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tx8p65M_2w5zcKjM4Fp3S-g&output=html

Good luck in your teaching practice! I hope this was helpful.

DR

Web 2.0 is so "Web 2.0"

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:31:00 PDT

Okay, I officially hate the term Web 2.0, and it's not because of any of the previous reasons other folks hated it.

I hate it because it's so- Web 2.0. As in yesterday. The growth and strength of the cloud computing format has evolved so much in the last two years, that I have trouble using this term any longer. Web 2.0 is old, it's used, and it's over. Are we into Web 3.0? No- and we shouldn't use that term either. Know why? Because it will be over tomorrow. The terminology evokes a feeling of AOL 4.0, 5.0, etc. I assure you nobody will be receiving a CD in the mail with Web 3.0 on it anytime soon.

The Web is evolving into something that we cannot predict. Google Wave, Google Voice, the CrunchPad, iPhone, The Apple Tablet, Google OS, Web Apps... there really is just no predicting how these devices or tools will change our communication or productivity habits over the next few years. Who would have predicted 10 years ago that the "Google" company would be more relevant than Microsoft or AOL Time-Warner? Who could have predicted that social networking would help millions of old friends reunite online?

How do we predict what will happen tomorrow? Next year Google Wave could be allowing us to "wave" at each other all over the world and could, once again, morph how we communicate. The "2.0, 3.0, 4.0" way of describing the current Web hearkens back to a time when computing was app-based, meaning you bought a software app, uploaded it to your computer and used it. Computing is becoming Web-app based, and there is no known nomenclature that this really fits into.

So- what would we call it? How would we frame the current state of the Web? My first thought is: The Internets. That sounds funny, right? When you say it- it's a joke on George Bush, but you know what? The Web is now plural. The Web is no longer a network, it is a million networks, social networks, image networks, media networks, video networks, and the more I hear Jon Stewart or Keith Olbermann use it as a joke, the more it sounds normal. I hate to give George Bush credit for anything, but his propensity to screw up the English language served him right here.

In the old Midwest, around Chicago, adding plurals to certain words is just what we do.

Daughter: "Where are you going, Mommy?"
Mom: "I'm going to the Jewel's." (Jewel is a supermarket here in Chicago)

Son: "Dad, where do the Bears play?"
Dad: "They play at Soldiers Field." (It's Soldier Field)

The habit of making the terms plural, I think, gives the places more meaning, and implies ownership to an entity that doesn't appear to be owned by anyone (who is Jewel?). Why go to Soldier Field?; surely the field was named for more than one soldier.

Okay, so you don't like that one, but you feel like you still need to classify the Web. Maybe you'd like something a little more cerebral. Since the Web is like an evolution of a species, it could follow the stages of our own evolutionary theory. This would follow these stages:

Hadeon- Earth forms, gets hit by meteors and sets the stage for life as we know it.
Archean- Bacteria develop primitive forms of photosynthesis. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria evolve.
Proterozoic- Eukaryotic cells appear, Cambrian explosion, modern phyla of animals appear.
Phanerozoic, which then includes: Literally the "period of well-displayed life.
Paleozoic- Earth begins to look recognizable as we know it.
Mesozoic- First evidence of viruses is noticeable.
Cenozoic- Anatomically modern humans appear in Africa.

If we use these stages it might make more sense because we know that the Web is still forming, very much like the Earth was in the Hadeon Eon. How it takes shape in the years to come and compares to photosynthesis- I have no idea. This formation may take decades, centuries, eons, who knows? This is really absurd, though, isn't it? Trying to classify the Organic Web while it is evolving is backwards. You look back on it after it's all over, not while it's happening. For you cerebral types feel free to call this the Hadeon Era of the Web, or the Hadeon Web.

Me- I'm sticking with - (drawl) - The Internets.

Thanks to clickfarmer for the AOL photo.
Thanks to wikipedia for the Tree of Life photo.

Remember when we were all scared of Cloud computing?

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:18:00 PDT

It seems like only yesterday (okay last year) when we were rambling on about how Google Apps and all of these Web 2.0 companies were going to take our data and flush it down the toilet once they ran out of money. (And for that matter, remember when Discovery Streaming was the next thing to buttered toast?)

Well, what a difference one summer can make.

After trolling the Bloggers Cafe at NECC '09 in Washington DC, eating at Google's micro-kitchen at Google Teacher Academy in, Boulder, CO- I must say that I didn't hear death knells for data, people weren't measuring coffins for school districts' tech admins, and it felt as the keys were left in the door to the walled garden and nobody worried.

Google has made such a strong showing since they introduced Wave, and are ramping up Google Apps for Ed even more this year with more support, more qualified districts, and with more companies using them. Tech educators seem generally confident that their data is safe with Google. As for the other Web 2.o companies, well you need only visit TechCrunch's Deadpool or look at the below image to see how the Web 2.0 world is changing. Google recently made the NEA's list of tech tool must-haves for this year, so don't worry- Google's got your back.

If Cloud Computing is finally in- what's out?

Terms like: Web 2.0, 21st Century Literacy
Discovery Streaming- sorry, but still no embedding? Blah. National Geographic has some embeddable video; I'll go there.
Hosted LMSs like Moodle and Blackboard. I'll be the first in line for "Moodle the Web-app."
Microsoft Word, though it was out last year too.
Flash Drives- how many do have that are sitting in a drawer?
Cable in the Classroom

Feel Safe With Google Apps for Ed

Gotta say, with all the teachers I talked to this summer who shared Google Documents with me, collaborated on presentations, went to PD seminars- Google has got the buzz. I met folks who wanted to look at my Android phone, mostly because they wanted to see my Google Voice App, or see how Google has integrated their Apps into mobile phones. I'm excited to finally be able to use Google Docs with our students this year, and I don't feel worried that I'll lose info, at least from Google anyway.

Here's how The Cloud helped me this year:

When my district email went down, I was the only employee that forward my district mail to Gmail. So for two days, I was the only one that still received my email, and was able to function, thanks to Gmail.
Both of my computers crashed this summer- iMac G5 and laptop. Thankfully, most of my documents, even my taxes, were saved in the Cloud, whether at Google Docs or TurboTax online. I was never without a resource for my documents. I even uploaded a batch of photos to photobucket.com and saved those as well.

So, I would say, the Cloud saved me more than once this year. Remember when it was all so scary?

Dead Web 2.0

Thanks to Meg Pickard on flickr for the Web 2.0 image.
Thanks to flattop341 on flickr for the coffin image.

My Head in the Cloud: Why Google Teacher Academy is more relevant than ever

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:55:00 PDT

Google Apps, Google Wave, Android, and Google Voice.

There couldn't be a better time to be a Google Certified Teacher.

This is turning out to be the Year of the Cloud. I've talked numerously and presented about the Cloud and Cloud apps all year long, and it's just icing on the cake that I get to participate IN the Cloud at the Google Teacher Academy in Boulder, CO this week.

But- why so exciting; why is this year so important?

Last year's excitement about Google was supposed to be Google for Ed Apps, but I think that process of implementing Google for Ed Apps was a wake up call for some. Other topics like cell phones in education and iPhone classroom applications seemed to steal some thunder in the blogosphere, at tech conferences, and on Twitter (no thanks to the esteemed Scott Meech and Liz Kolb). The sign-up process (or implementation) of Google for Ed Apps was not a smooth one, and many of us, including me (and perhaps Google) were thrown off kilter during the process. Improvements were made, the iGoogle frontpage for Ed Apps was thrown out, and we got through it. Now we're ready for more, and- have you seen what's on the horizon for Google Educators?

Google Apps
This is going to be a fascinating year for Google Apps in Education. Microsoft is going to be rolling out Office 2010, finally trying to compete with Google with some sort of Cloud version of Word. It will be interesting to see who wins this war, but I think that MS is going to spend a couple of years learning exactly what Google has already learned: implementing a Cloud system for education has tons of nooks a crannies that are unforeseeable- security, building teaching networks (like Google has spent the past few years already doing), and building a launchpad (like Google Sites) which allow educators to create a starting point. Google Docs is about to get an interface upgrade (see TechCrunch for more on this), presentations, and even Google Sites is getting more rich and more...intuitive. That's an important word for a teacher who doesn't like to click a million times while lesson planning. So much of Google's success relies on their open developer network, and I wonder - does MS plan on open-sourcing Cloud Word? Either way, I am implementing Google Apps in my classes this year, and look forward to develop the teachers in my district with the possibilities that Google Apps can give them.

Google Wave
I'm sure you've seen the video of Google Wave by now, but the possibilities that Google Wave offers educators stands to be enormous and a huge answer to many of our collaborative problems (ever have a group edit one wiki page?). What we see below is more of a digital sandbox than like anything I've seen before.

And like a digital sandbox- the Wave tool looks to be one that can connect students in real time, share files instantaneously from anywhere, and combines a number of already created communication platforms -email, text, twitter. I've always been impressed with Twitter's ability to funnel all of the communication pipes like Facebook and Delicious, but Wave looks to stand even higher above those pipes. I doubt that at Google Teacher Academy we will be able to work yet with this unreleased tool, but being a prolific user of Google Apps gives me confidence that when Google Wave comes out, I will be one of the first teachers using it.

Android
Why is this such a good year for Android, the Google Phone OS? And why should teachers be excited about it? Well, there's a lot to love about Android as a teacher. The synchronicity I enjoy between my Android phone and Gmail, Calendar, Google Voice , and Google Apps- gives me a leg up on the iPhone without jail breaking or creating workarounds (sync iCal and Calender, hello?). That's a deal breaker for a process-oriented teacher. Simplicity; I need time to teach my students- not endlessly look for solutions. Google has already done that for me with Android. In fact, my wife inputs into our Google Calendar, and I get alerts on my Android phone. It just works.

Apple is making billions off its App Store, but I've read the tea leaves (other blogs that told me so) and the next year will show not one but twelve more Android phones opening up on various cell carriers. The Android Market is very quickly catching up with the App Store, and many of iPhone's favorite apps are now coming to the Market.

Why is this important for teaching? Well, coming from a digital equity point of view, this opens up the possibilities for classroom phone apps to millions of more students around the world, rather than just niche classroom iPhone/iTouch use. More students mean more possibilities, and I'm dying to see what kind of Apps for Education will be developed for the Android, the iPhone and beyond. Apple should be given its due for paving the street for cell phones in the classroom. Now, it's Google's turn. (Although it's not strictly for ed, take a look at the Google Sky app for Android. Too fun! Embed is below.)

Google Voice
While I don't know if there is a direct connection yet to education through the Google Voice tool in the classroom, how we communicate as educators with our administrations and fellow teachers surely impacts what goes on in the classroom. I'm interested to see how Google Voice may change the way we think about cell phones, texting, email, and communication at home and at the office. I also am curious to see if Google Voice changes the way that phone companies do business. Already Apple has removed its Google Voice app from the App Store (possibly in collusion with AT&T), and this controversy does stand to ratchet up the profile of this, as yet, unreleased tool. Google Voice was the reason I bought a G1, and I thankfully got an invite to GV a few weeks ago. I knew that with the Android phone, I'd be able to seamlessly connect with all my Google Apps, Gmail, Calendar and now Google Voice mail and text. Although the G1 is not a great phone itself, the OS is really what makes it worth it.

Googlify Me
Over the past couple years my motto has become, "teach more, manage less," and you'll see this phrase pop up here from time to time. Technology should allow teachers to do just this, not get muddled in logins, poorly designed UI, and freezing sites. The possibilities that Google offers to reach students from the richest to even in the poorest of districts is awesome. Since I'm such a proponent of digital equity, I have come to champion Google for it's ability to reach out to the masses; if Apple is Darren Aronofsky, then Google is Steven Spielberg. The teaching process is one I protect with vigor, and the intuitiveness that Google's Apps and ideas offer actually make my job simpler.

Teach more, manage less.

There couldn't be a better time to be a Google Certified Teacher.

The Crunchpad, GoogleOS, and Digital Equity

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:04:00 PDT

As many of you know, I've been a champion of cloud computing and digital equity since I started writing this blog.

I see that the cloud is a flattener for education in many ways. I believe that all students, poor or rich, deserve the same quality of education and deserve to use the same tools. The playing field should be level. The most promising sign of this level playing field is in the offerings of the cloud: Google Apps for Ed, drop.io, schooltube.com, edu20.org, wikipedia.org- all of these online apps and tools are free (right now, anyway). Take into account the netbook and in a very, very short time- technology education will be more accessible to everyone, granted there are qualified teachers to shape it.

So I've been pretty optimistic about all of this- and then two things happened:
I saw this (via the Crunchpad blog):

and I read this tweet on twitter:

Let me just say - wow! Score 100 points for Digital Equity.

Item I: The CrunchPad
I'm already in line. The CrunchPad, a netbook/tablet device that Andy Ihnatko of the Sun Times describes too well:

"It’s an 18mm thick tablet computer built like a S’More. At the bottom, there’s a crisp layer of a netbook-class computer. Then, a marshmallow-sweet software layer consisting of a WebKit-based web browser. They top the whole thing off with a full-sized 12” color touchscreen display."

Now... wait for it. Andy- what kind of apps does it run?

"The browser. Period."

How much will it cost?

"$299." (ACK! Jumping for joy!)

Item II: Google Chrome OS
On further reading of the Google Blog one sentence sticks out:

"Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks."

Netbooks. Google has it sights targeted straight at education and soccer moms with this. I previously talked up netbooks as the Tipping Point for cloud computing. And as I just came back from the National Educational Computing Conference, I saw many conference goers holding these quaint little computers. I even saw one patron with a Dell Mini Hackintosh.

It doesn't take a tea leaf reader to see that in the next couple years, with the onset of Google Wave, the Crunchpad, and Google Chrome OS, in Doc Brown's immortal edited for TV words, we're "going to see some serious...stuff" about to happen in tech education and it's implication on digital equity. So I've listed what I think, at this point, are the +s and -s of this possible new device revolution.

How can these two items positively impact equity and education?
1. The cost of this technology will flatten the playing field. School districts from lower economies now will be able to afford them.
2. 1-1 computing initiatives will abound.
3. Inner city public schools would (and already should) be wifi hot spots for the neighborhoods.
4. Take-home media will become passe- students will be expected to take home their devices, and the fear of losing equipment to theft will significantly decrease. The responsibility to completing work at home on the device also becomes more integrated.
5. The need for quality professional development is about to skyrocket.

How can these two items negatively impact equity and education?
1. Districts will now begin to see a way to save money by lowering their tech budgets. As a consequence, they will forgo cash for the amount of maintenance that will be needed for netbooks and wireless upkeep.
2. Quality teachers with experience in 1-1 computing, as well as project based learning, will be difficult to find. Students may not see progress because teachers will have a heavy learning curve.
3. The need for quality professional development is about to skyrocket- this could also be a bad thing. Not only are districts going to be shorthanded with experienced teachers, they are also going to misjudge the amount of necessary PD needed for these devices, or they'll ignore it all together. Netbooks could very well be the Pandora's box of poor schools.
4. Where to store student personal information? While this may not be considered negative, per se, it's still controversial to store student information off site. Will this become a misnomer?
5. Mostly what this comes down to is, again, $$, not being prepared- what's new?

A Final Word
I never felt more inclined to say that a Google Chrome OS, with the combination of a $299 Crunchpad could absolutely streamline technology equity across the board (note the word "could"). The question about affordability of just the devices makes a compelling argument come budget time. There will definitely be more decisions to make as more schools adopt Apple's iTouch and other netbooks in the classroom. The debate over storing student information in the cloud or on a school server also becomes less or more controversial (you decide). And undoubtedly, Apple will unveil its iTablet, which will cost probably twice as much. Already, iPhone loyalists are on the defensive:

Chris Rice, Apple loyalist, says, "while CruchTablet will be great for what it does, a $600 iTablet would be much more valuable in a higher ed setting, IMHO. An iTablet could run full Office suite, integrate w/iTunesU, allow students to take notes/record lectures in class, AND read texts."

Liz Kolb, proponent of cell phones in the classroom, also writer of cellphonesinlearning.com, says, "I think [the Crunchpad] might not have a big impact because Apple was first with the iTouch/iPhone. Look at Microsoft---there OS is not nearly as good as MAC OS, but MS allowed others to copy and use, thus they got there first. Usually first wins out (even when others are better) I don't think that many will switch over to the Crunch...they will just wait for Apple to make their iTouch's larger."

So, will these cloud computing products be a game-changer? I'll sum this all up from a quote from Google's own blog (via this Miguel Guhlin post). They state:

I may rush to state that this is a game changer, as many do, but if I were a tech coordinator for a district with limited means, I think I'd already be "crunch"-ing the numbers.

CrunchPad Demo

Google Wave Demo

What are your 10,000 hours in?

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:57:00 PDT

After reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and skimming the themes from yesterday's keynote at NECC09, the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to become a true expert or master an any skill, I am, of course, wondering- what am I getting my 10,000 hours in, exactly?

Just to do a quick assessment of where I'm getting my hours, for the ones I'm sure about, I show the actual hours. The others are just the activities that I participate in that make up a majority of my time.

1. Father: 39, 420 hours. (book in the works titled: The Expert Father)
2. Educational Networking (writing/ blogging/ Twitter/ Facebook): 1.5 - 2 yrs. - maybe 1460 hours? Possibly some more.
3. Professional Development (which would blend with Ed Networking, masters classes, reading blogs, reading education periodicals, sharing resources, blogging, teaching myself new Web 2.0 tools). This would require some Wolfram Alpha computation to calculate.
4. Classroom teaching: so far 2700 hours in 3 years.
5. Technology Integration
6. Curriculum development
7. Professionally developing other teachers.

About Educational Networking: This is quite hard to compute, but I estimate that I do about two hours of this per day (combined). Think about how many times you glance at your phone, answer a Twitter or text message, and add this up. Since I've really only been actively blogging, twittering, and texting for a good 1.5 - 2 years, I'll estimate my total time: 1094 hours. This goes pretty much right along the lines of Gladwell, who states that it takes about 10 years to be an expert (or 10,000 hours) at anything . So if this continues, which I assume it will, I should be an expert educational communicator in about 9 years (but it will take a shorter time, I think :-).

About fathering- I just had to put that in there to compare just how much time family takes up. It makes you wonder, when choosing your road to expertise, just how much of that is devoted to family?

So I'm looking through my behavior- teaching, using tech, developing social Web tools, integrating tech- and where is my real focus? I'm also thinking about the work that my students do, and wonder if I am offering opportunities to them that will allow them to become experts. Surely, I do offer many chances to use Web 2.0 tools and to create movies, presentations, learning Web 2.0 skills, HTML skills , but I'm also wonder if the opportunities to continue that learning will continue for them in the schools that they graduate to. Can I help them learn independently so that they can seek out their own opportunities and compensate for their possible adverse situations? That is not certain.

Another question persists: After a worthy conversation with Scott Meech, I question whether jumping to an admin level will help or hurt my ability to be effective in the classroom, without continually using those skills. If I have to learn a whole new set of skills, is that worth it? I'll be starting my 10,000 hours all over again!

These are perhaps the greatest questions I've asked myself as a teacher so far, and the widest objective view I've had of my teaching practice that I've had so far in my career.

So, I wonder- what are your 10,000 hours in?

Thanks to Michel Fillion on Flickr for the image.

Point - Counterpoint: On Effective Teaching

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:18:00 PDT

I was recently struck be a conversation I read on Twitter today between two colleagues:

Position #1 states: "One cannot be an excellent teacher and not be using current technology."

Position #2 states: "I don't think the use of tech defines excellent teachers. Also, the non-use of tech does not define ineffectiveness."

This conversation brings to mind a personal example. At a school that I taught at, I was doing a math project using iMovie with my kids. When it came time for students to animate their examples, none of them understood what a manipulative was (I would call this "low tech" but tech, nonetheless), and the students only knew how to do long division. When I asked them if they knew the "box method" or "lattice method," they also were unaware of what I was talking about. But they all knew how to do abstract math using the old-fashioned methods taught to my parents- and their math scores at this school were generally- excellent.

Box Method: CC image from Wikihow
The question is: was their non-tech-using teacher ineffective? Or maybe the students were getting lots of help at home from parents, after school homework clubs, and the like?

While I'm not ready to rule in technology's favor just yet on this issue, I think that the question of effectiveness is very much at stake. As a consequence of doing abstract math and not using even manipulatives, these students very well may have more trouble in the future doing "mental math." But they'll score high on their state tests.

I'd be every interested to know what other teacher's stories are. Do you have to use tech to be an effective teacher?

Just Teach

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:40:00 PDT

I've been away for a while, but it was for good reason.

I was teaching.

As prolific as I can be, one must have priorities. Although some days I am an advocate, and some days I'm a presenter, some days I'm a blogger, and some days I am just tired- one must remember that when all is said and done, I am still a teacher. And I love that.

Almost a year ago I was doing research for a final project in my masters program, and I talked with a former teacher. This former teacher had grown into a pretty formidable person in the ed tech world, and we had a conversation. I talked about my love for technology and Web 2.0, and how I was integrating that into my science class. I said how I wanted to go further with technology.

I was asked where I thought I'd be in five years or something, and I didn't have an answer. I was so new to the teaching profession (2 years) that I never really thought beyond my classroom. All I knew at the moment, was that I was extremely on fire for what a teacher could do with technology in the classroom.

Seizing the moment, I remember asking, "do you have any advice? I really want to dive into this Web 2.0 stuff, I really want to be involved in tech at a higher level."

And then I heard those important words.

Sometimes (come on- most of the time) people tell you stuff, and you nod your head and smile and you don't really listen to them. Well this time, my former teacher told me something that I can't forget.

"I know you're passionate about technology, and you're trying some progressive stuff in your classroom, but technology aside, the best advice I can give is just- be a good teacher."

Technology aside? What's more important than technology? I'm just about to try out a new Online Learning Environment! I just started a new Google for Ed account and I'm going to get all my students email addresses! I just signed up for Voicethread and we're doing some digital storytelling! Technology aside? I just went to three technology conferences, and spent every Sunday listening to Ed Tech Talk Live! I worked all year to build my Twitter network and am getting ready to pass 300 followers and sent almost 2000 tweets! Technology aside? I joined Classroom 2.0, started some forums there and...huff...puff....etc.

And in reading that paragraph, I hope you get it. Because I do. I really do.

Technology does not make a good teacher, nor does it make me good. I still have to motivate my kids with exciting projects. I still have to differentiate. I still have to organize. I still have to use best practices- regardless if the agenda is written on the whiteboard or the interactive whiteboard.

Be a good teacher. That's my focus.

Be a good teacher. Thy will be done.

Thanks ;-)

The Digital Divide: Redefined

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:50:00 PDT

The Digital Divide is becoming less and less about access, according to the Pew Internet and American Project. That's fine, but the disenfranchisement of the poor and poor districts still remains. And it is growing. Recently, much as been said of Netbooks and free Web 2.0 tools going to pay formats. These two things have the possibility of creating a larger, more complex Digital Divide then we have ever seen.

Netbooks and Web 2.0: Pandora's Box for Poor Schools?
Vicki Davis, stated recently regarding this issue that " it is vital to plan." But are schools? Netbooks stand a chance to make the Internet available to more students than ever before, but at what cost? The old standard model for budgeting PD has always been 10/1, meaning that for every 10 dollars you spend, you spend $1 on PD. That model has to be thrown out the window when districts' new Netbooks arrive. The Internet stands to be a Pandora's box for school districts who are not prepared to pay for the PD that should be required for teachers to use wikis, manage student information, and create student-teacher social networks and so much more.

Inevitably districts are going to buy those Netbooks anyway. But they won't really be low cost, because someone will be paying a price for their lack of foresight- the students and their personal information.

I've always been a Web 2.0 fanatic, but having worked in a struggling district, I've seen how a large, urban district makes decisions. I've also seen how little supervision teachers in a poor district are given, and wonder how student information could be affected.

Disenfranchisement is Free
Web 2.0 tools are starting to go to a pay model as Gcast has recently done, along with others. Now that this is happening, Ryan Bretag, in his latest post, wonders what the Total Cost of Ownership will be. For me, I see something larger happening. I see a Digital Divide growing. When the free tools go pay, what will the poorer districts do? They will use other, less secure free offerings that will most likely be ad-based, and may put student information and development at risk.

I think that there will always be free options for educators, but wealthier districts are going to have the freedom to use Internet tools that poorer districts can't, and this is really a form of socio-economic disenfranchisement. As for Gcast, judging by Ed Allen's tweet the other day, poorer schools will find the free options. His teachers and other schools will, most likely, look for free, but will that be the best thing for those students?

Maybe what we are seeing here, is that nothing truly is free. There are costs everywhere, whether it's in student information, security, socio-economic costs, and education quality. The most oft-used tools, the most vetted tools, will remain the most secure.

The Internet is not free.

Teachers Overflow on #educhat

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:13:00 PDT

#educhat - Wow!

While I've gone to many of the mainstream ed tech podcasts and listened to Liz Kolb, Ed Tech Talk and visited Classroom 2.0 often, tonight I was extremely excited to connect and to watch in real-time, other teachers connect live on Twitter, via the #educhat hashtag. Twitter is continually being used to aggregate conversation and connect mass groups.

The Twitter tool amazes me, and it's another milestone for the flattening of the world. In a couple years, using Twitter will be just as popular as Facebook is today, and I wonder how a connective tool like Twitter will connect educators more and more in that time. While the world waits to wrap their head around another tool, the educators of the nation might have a leg up.

I was quite amazed as the #educhat was updating 10 tweets a second at times, and I had trouble catching up with folks! Were these teachers? Educators? I've done Twitter searches before for teacher talk, but it would seem that the Twitter hashtag tool has hit a tipping point. Yahoo!

And although there has been some fun made of Twitter of late, I have lately found it an extremely helpful tool to trade tools, share strategies, and to share blog posts with wonderful, passionate educators about items like cloud computing and Moodle. See Miguel Guhlin's passion for Moodle at Around the Corner.

So, I just wanted to welcome all of those new educators out there via Twitter. Welcome my new followers @bonniebrown, @kyteacher, @john_ , @CU_Teach, @lisadawley, @mmiller7571, and @mrsfollis. I remember that in my first school our educators were an army. The Tweachers can be an army as well!

CC Image from Army.mil on Flickr

Breaking the Door Down: Netbooks- The Tipping Point for The Cloud

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:06:00 PDT

Image from akashgoyal on flickr

If this next quote is to be believed, the question is: are we ready?

"Netbooks prove that the “cloud” is no longer just hype. It is now reasonable to design computers that outsource the difficult work somewhere else. The cloud tail is wagging the hardware dog." - from Wired's Clive Thompson via Wes Fryer's Speed of Creativity

I wholeheartedly believe that Miguel Guhlin's fears are valid, when it comes to security and keeping student information safe in The Cloud. He reminds us in his last post that:

"there are complicated, though not complex, processes in place in every school district to protect that data. "

If you're in the position of acquiring tools for student information, then building your own in-house tool, like a Moodle, can be a worthy solution. That is--- if you have the funds and the time. What is wrong with using that solution? Nothing at all. Just hope you have someone on staff that knows how to use Cascading Style Sheets.

Unfortunately, most underfunded public schools aren't in that position. The Netbook, though, will stir the pot. Read the following scenario and decide what you most likely think will happen (and I'm not saying both are immediately great).

A district or a school, suddenly finds that buying 30 Netbooks is well within a reasonable budget (vs. 30 expensive Macbooks) to add for the next school year. Great! This school now has the ability for some 1-1 computing initiatives!

So they:
1. Begin using "walled garden" apps like Wordpress, Moodle, and Gallery2?

2. Go into The Cloud to use some wonderful Web 2.0 apps like wikispaces, Voicethread, Edu20.org, edublogs and more.

What is most likely to happen, is that most of these schools, many of them poorer, will jump into The Cloud. Teachers, seeking fast and easy tools are going to begin using these Web 2.0 tools without any training or PD, and they will put student information at risk. Districts are going to find themselves in a bind because they haven't developed AUPs that cover these new emerging tools, and they haven't set any standards in place as to how they are going to deal with student IDs and username/passwords.

In many ways, it's going to be a mess. For districts that have had the money and the resources- they have built their "walled garden" years ago with their mini Moodle world. Pat those districts on the back. From this mess, though- something wonderful is going to happen.

Teaching in The Cloud will hit the tipping point.

Then -what are we going to see?
1. More users.
2. More users = more security.
3. More security = more districts are going to be willing to put student info in The Cloud. (In fact- mark my words- there will be a day where parents will demand this because the most progressive, high-tech education tools and apps, will available in The Cloud)
4. More elaborate AUPs that give districts more freedom with The Cloud and student information. In fact, parents, at that point, will have so much of their own data in The Cloud, that the litigation issue will, most likely, be a misnomer.

The Cloud, for better or for worse, is about to get much more crowded because of the Netbook. Fortunately, the security that will come out of it will make a transparent education a reality.

Now, as educators, we all hope to get to a point where education is free for all, and the same tools are available to everyone. Or do we? Or do some districts hope to create a competitive environment where some of their tools are only available within their own Walls? Is a transparent education actually feared? In Miguel's last post he states,

"Web 2.0 technologies allow educators to rebel against the status quo and to incite our students to do so as well."

Is he saying teachers are to be feared because of Web 2.0? Have they gained too much influence in the classroom and their students? Should teachers be feared now because districts cannot control how they communicate? Are Walled Gardens built as a means of controlling the community- students and teachers alike?

As an educator, I feel we all want the same things for our students. I have to believe that. So- it's important to have this debate. Right now, we're in an arms race of sorts. There are going to be benefits and consequences on both sides. One thing I think is important though, and that's that we are all trying very hard to do the best for our students. We're using wikis and Skype to collaborate with other students, we're creating all-inclusive global projects, we're building our own in-house tools to serve our community- we're pushing the envelope for what can be imagined. And many of us are following standards that ensure student safety. We are working with a system that is both flattening on one hand, and trying to remain hierarchical on the other (hello oxymoron?). We'll either meet somewhere in the middle, or the educational system will, somehow, bust.

In this reach for computing and educating freedom, I remember a quote I had hanging on my door all throughout high school:

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.- Henry David Thoreau

Image from Michael Dawes on flickr

For every teacher I run into these days on Twitter, at a conference, on my blog, there's very few of them that don't have the gleam of these words in their eye. I truly believe that we're in this for the same reasons. Our students.

My wonder is that when The Cloud becomes the norm and many of us are sitting around Walden Pond, will some districts' Walled Gardens have turned into gates?

Workflow: Less Clicks Always Wins

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:16:00 PDT

The World is Flat came out in 2005. I read it in 2009. Sometimes it's better to wait.

Image from KaiChanVong on Flickr

I am not a World is Flat groupie, but I think that sometimes waiting can give you the freshest perspective (and this coming from the Man Who Will Sign Up For Everything).

Today I read (or listened to) The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Looking at this book with 2009 eyes, especially after the Flat Classroom Project and Friedman's involvment with that, I can say that the book is still extremely relevant, and not outdated by... much.

I do not share Friedman's overall excitement for a world in which Bangalorians are working with dialect coaches to Americanize their voices, or adopting American names to better serve us on the phone while we dispute a credit card charge. And I think the jury's also still out on whether "Jerry" or "Sally" have given us better service when they don't totally understand an American perspective (especially after we've just picked our kids up from day care and were in 2 hours of Chicago traffic).

Work Flow: Why The Cloud Will Win
One thing I do agree on when it comes to the "flattening of the world" is work flow. This whole aggregation and integration of our Internet and how we communicate has streamlined communicational and educational processese- it has given us the tools to work with students and colleagues in ways that we've never even imagined even two years ago. It only keeps getting better. The benefits of this aggregation stands to streamline the process and work flow of teaching, so that these tools can be available to any teacher, any time. This aggregation of work flow happened just this week in pop culture. To use a real time example- we saw it with how Facebook has transformed itself to more of a Twitteresque user interface. The Cloud is demanding what they want, and it is responding.

Twitter is picking up amazing steam, and Ryan Bretag has offered a great view of how important Twitter is in the progressive world. It's the same as when eBay sellers demanded that eBay buy PayPal. The end user is the controller of the tipping point.

And don't forget, that when it comes to teaching-pedagogy and process:

Teacher = End User.

The Bottom Up vs. The Top Down
One can give the teacher a tool like, let's say, Wordpress, but if they find something better and more user-friendly in The Cloud, and they are told they can't use it because it's not hosted on the school's own servers, that disenfranchises the teaching process. The learning process will also be disenfranchised. The teacher can also be disenfranchised by technology. Why do we ever question why teachers don't adopt technology in their classrooms? Because the end user should be the one who demands the tools- not the top. It's a sad reality in many districts who have unqualified teachers. It's like trying to feed a hamburger to a newborn.

"they are trying to make the world round again"

Some districts that are adopting Moodle to create "walled gardens" have me curious. If you ask the developers, they'll tell you they're doing it because of security, because you can't trust Web 2.0, and you can't trust The Cloud. These educational systems are attempting to build invisible walls around their schools. Districts, fearing losing data, losing ownership over their data- are trying to make the world round again! While the world is getting flat, some school districts are using Moodle to try to "unflatten" it by creating their own worlds- little tiny worlds- all over the place. This- in a time where technology is allowing us to connect, share, and collaborate with any classroom in the world. You can't do that. We'll you can, but isn't that a futile exercise?

Image from aussiegall on flickr

How is this going to play out in education? Well, if the Twitter/Facebook phenomena is an indicator, the tipping point will come from teachers- from the bottom up. Users are demanding The Cloud. They won't be force fed anything. And they won't use it unless it has an aggregated flow (i.e. less clicks). While we may be in a period of vetting, the class management tools that have the best flow will ultimately win. Will it be a Moodle type tool? Or will it come from The Cloud? My guess is that the one that has the most users/vetters will win.

The world is getting flatter. And it's because the end user is making work flow seamless. Now what we need in technology education, with our teachers, is a tipping point.

Cloud Computing: K-12 Schools' Knight in Shining Armor

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:50:00 PST

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to present a poster on Edu20.org at the ICE conference in St. Charles, IL.

I had some wonderful, spirited conversations with teachers and tech-coordinators alike. I had a handful of Moodle folks come over and take a look "for curiosity's sake." Now, I am not sold that Edu20 is the final solution for a school or a district. I think all of this is still playing itself out. But one thing was inherently clear. Teachers absolutely loved it. They loved how it looked, and how easy it was to use. They loved that it didn't take 2 weeks of PD to use it. That really is saying something- technology often makes teachers cringe with the fear that it won't work in class, or that something will get them off their game. Take it from a teacher (me): we like it when technology works, and when it solves pedagogical issues in our classrooms.

Many of them came up to me the next day and said that they had signed up and started adding their classes to Edu20. Neat! The ease and freedom of Web-hosted services prevails. How about that! They didn't need to download anything or spend any time writing code. Edu20.org was made for teachers.

Not So Fast
Now, I did not hear the same thing from the tech coordinator side of things. Many Moodle folks asked me questions about, go figure, controlling content. In fact, I was grilled on the most interesting of questions:
"Can I download my gradebook using an ActiveX data object?" [not sure]

"When students send messages, is their a way to report abuse or filter content?" [sort of]

"If I don't like something or the look, can I change the color or the font type?" [not really]

"How are messages and classes archived, and can they be downloaded in [something I don't understand] format?" [answer too long to explain]

"Can I backup the gradebooks in one motion, or do I have to do that class by class?" [You can do it all at once]

Fascinating questions. Controlling the content. I get it. I did have some answers, but I don't have them all. What was clear was "the fear" was there. That fear was further validated when Miguel Guhlin wrote in his blog that:

"Moodle...enables powerful ideas to slay the fears our leaders hold."

This fear must be real. Mr. Guhlin says it's so.

The Cloud vs. The Walled Garden
Teachers and tech coordinators seem to be coming at this from two different points of view: pedagogy vs. content. Teachers want technology that works from a pedagogical standpoint: they want their lessons to flow, without being hampered by load times, unnecessary shut downs and the spinning wheel of death. They want less clicks, and easy sign up. I believe that is why the Apple platform works so well in the educational environment; teachers spend so much time managing children, projects, gradebooks- that they have an emotional and physical limit. The Apple frees that up. That's why Wikispaces is working so well. Voicethread is a great example of the merging of design, user management, and flow. It's no surprise to me that when I show teachers this Web 2.0 solution to managing their classes, they seem ecstatic, like it fulfills a need they've had for a long time. That's how I felt when I started using Ectolearning a couple of years ago. It was freedom to a teacher who needed a solution to class and pedagogical management. In fact, I would describe the differences between a tech coordinator and an educator to be content vs. pedagogical management.

These Web-Hosted solutions appear to be breaking down walls, allowing classes to be mobile, allowing content to follow the user everywhere they go. Cloud computing- or simply, The Cloud- seems to be taking us into a place where someday, a student on Chicago's South Side is going to be able to enroll in a public school in Austin, TX because that school's curriculum will be something that holds that student's desires. Skype, Elluminate, Second Life and other online tools will allow that student to participate in any classroom across the world. This is possible now- technically- but not politically.

While the idea of Moodle as an open source vehicle and a solution to slay the fears of policy makers is understandable on the one hand, I'm worried about the overall message I'm receiving. While The Cloud offers more and more tools to students across the Globe, instead should we build a wall around our curriculum so that we can protect it? Copyright it, maybe? It seems like an oxymoron to use an open-source platform to build a digital wall around your curriculum or your school. Maybe for a higher ed institution, but for a public district?

The idea of building a "walled garden," as Miguel puts it, stems from fear. Is that fear really about student information, though, or is that fear really about digital ownership? Who owns the information? Who owns the curriculum? Who owns the school? When you put something in The Cloud, it doesn't really belong to you anymore, does it? This unrealized fear about losing content is nothing more than a fear of not owning content. These are two fundamentally different ideas, but belong in the same conversation.

The other day I downloaded an Episode of Fox's 24 from iTunes. It sits on my hard drive. I own that episode. Do I get the same satisfaction though, when I watch it for free on the Hulu website? Maybe not- maybe a little less. I don't own it, then. It's like watching Star Wars on the USA Network versus having the DVD Complete Trilogy sitting on a shelf. I can't smell the vinyl when I watch it on for free on TV.

I haven't one iota of a problem with our wonderful technology coordinators and educators figuring out how to develop a unique system that works for their districts. In fact, the work that is going into developing Moodle will most likely improve The Cloud offerings as well, and, in the future, may even offer a Cloud version of Moodle. But to the policy makers, who harbor this fear, a fear not even fully realized yet, this fear of losing content, I ask:

Are we afraid of losing content, or insecure in our digital ownership rights?

Tim Lee, Adjunct Scholar at The Cato Institute, in his blog referring to The Cloud, states "the cloud isn't going away, but hopefully we can clarify our thinking about it by talking about the different types of clouds." I like how his point of view includes a 360 degree view of cloud computing and reminds us that content management and digital ownership rights are very much in the same conversation.

To my part, I offer this: The Cloud is an absolute good, that the very idea of an open Internet that is available to everyone, does not discriminate, is not exclusionary, and allows information to grow and be exchanged without walls or economic status will further support a society of collaboration, sharing, and participation. Let children sign up for any school they desire, and let technology be their savior here, not their virus or...Trojan Horse.

Great Wall image courtesy of Phoenix Han
Berling Wall image courtesy of siyublog.
Darth Vader image courtesy of kennymatic.

Using a Free LMS: A Case Study for Edu20.org

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:22:00 PST

I've always been a big fan of the Learning Management System. While getting my Masters, I used Blackboard, and later, Livetext. I know that Moodle is gaining popularity. I've seen it, and I'm keeping an eye out for it. I've been using a free web-hosted LMS called Edu20.org for the past year. It has satisfied my needs in many ways. It also has some flaws, and I'll detail those here as well.

This article is not intended to be an endorsement of Edu20.org. I'd like simply to offer the pros and cons of such a tool and it's place in Web 2.0 and in the classroom as it stands now.

The Overview:
Edu20.org is a free LMS, and by free, I mean that it does not cost the user one penny to host your class content. That is not true of Blackboard and even to use Moodle, you must use your own server space which may cost a district extra dollars. First impressions are that it's a fun, interesting place to host your stuff. Here's a look at the front page:

As you can see, it's a simple front page, with soft playful colors, and an engaging interface. Once students log in, they immediately see their avatar and some basic information about them, like how many points they earned (I've never used this) and how many friends they have.

Edu20 is more than just a LMS. It's a educational social network. It can connect students all over the world. Interestingly, since this is only my first year using this, I've rarely exploited the social aspect of the site. I find that it's pretty easy to get the kids signed up for my class- took less than a class period. Once they are in they can find their class content by navigating the top tabs:

All they have to do is click "learn," and, depending on how many classes they are enrolled for, they will have a list of their classes. They will click on that and then be taken to their class content. It is all organized in a playful, professional tab system.

In their class below they have a plethora of tools before them. Resources, lessons, students, forums, assignments, collaboration (which includes a simple wiki, a personal blog, an optional chat room, a very good debate function, and groups), a feed reader, and classroom policies.
All in all, it doesn't take most students very long to learn how to navigate the system as long as you use things consistently. I've discovered that many students who used the system in fall, now have come back for the spring and have not forgotten how to get in.

To take you on a more thorough tour of Edu20.org, I've created this screencast below. I try to draw a line down the middle, show you the positives and negatives, and be realistic and objective. I had to split it into two parts. Part 1 is below. Part II will be added shortly.

Let me just ask you one question after seeing and reading this:

Do you believe that the future of the Internet is web-hosted services?

And by "hosted" I mean available to everyone, any time and anywhere. This can be somewhat of a philosophical question, and I'd love to hear those ideas.

Why Not a Web-Hosted LMS?

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 10:42:00 PST

Before you read this, remember: I am a classroom technology teacher. And I'm also kind of a Web 2.0 purist.

I love Web 2.0 (or whatever you call it).

Do you know what I love about it most? Hosted services. I love that everything I want is now online. I love that I don't have to use a flash drive anymore. I love that I can do all of my lesson planning from any computer or Wifi network I run into. I love that these services don't take up any server space in my school. I love that my students can use Wikispaces and Google Apps from home. I love that they can hand in their homework from their home as well, by uploading it to our free Web-hosted LMS, Edu20.org.

This, to me, is what the freedom of the new Internet is bringing us. So what is wrong with free, hosted Web services? Apparently a lot, depending on who you ask.

According to Julian Ridden, a.k.a. @moodleman, the self-named "Moodle evangelist" from Australia, "from an IT perspective you usually want control. When you host it yourself you know it's up, stable, fast and backed up." This is a statement that I've heard re-iterated at tech conferences. I understand that there's a conundrum for school districts as to what to do with content. There is a growing fear of losing content.

But is this fear realized- the fear of losing content? Is there any evidence of teachers or districts losing content because a free online LMS or Internet service has gone under or gone offline? I ask @moodleman again. He states, "LMS hosting is new so [I] can't give examples. But think about Google videos' collapse. They are now shutting down that service after 3 yrs." I don't know that the education community was reeling too much from Google Videos' collapse.

Working Out of the Box
All I know is what works for me right now, and what is working is a myriad of hosted services, including my LMS. I'll tell you, as a teacher and a technology teacher at that- I want things to work out of the box. I only have 10 weeks a trimester with my kids, and if we get hung up on sites that take forever to load or have a monumental set-up process, it affects the flow of learning. I'm a Mac/Apple guy as well, and perhaps that has biased me, but when you take it out of the box, you plug it in, and it just...works. Shouldn't all technology work so simply?

Now, I can say this about the many tools I use in my classroom, especially our LMS, edu20.org. When I went there, I signed up, added my classes and students, and it just...worked. And has been working for the past 2 years. I can also say this about drop.io, wikispaces, voicethread (to a point), and just about any Mac program except for iMovie '08. I cannot say that for any hosted educational blog service yet, namely edubl ogs.org or classblogmeister.com.

The Moodle Questions...

Moodle has me curious in three ways:

Curiosity #1: Why not Web-hosted?

The Moodle chatter on Twitter is lighting up like a fireworks display, so something amazingly awesome must be going on. I'm not curious about what Moodle is, I'm curious at the direction that Moodle is asking us to go. It's open-source, which is great, but why, if the direction of the Web seems to be going into hosted services, is Moodle asking us to go backwards and host on our own servers? Does it give us some sort of satisfaction if we can see our own server sitting in a closet? Although Moodle is open-source (yay), isn't it Web 1.0 to host it on my own server?

Curiosity #2: It's look and feel.

I've asked to see examples of what Moodle can look like. Some nice Twitter folks sent in these examples here and there. Should I judge the look of Moodle, based on these? I suspect professional designers did not design those, but tech coordinators did. I very much want my LMS to have a playful, engaging look to it. I want my students to turn on their computers and say "Cool! This is where we do our classwork?" Based on the handful of examples I've seen at these links and at conferences, Moodle does not feel engaging. It feels functional. Maybe function is more important at this juncture- I'll accept that- but if my middle schoolers are not engaged by their online learning environment, then I have lost them right off the bat. Maybe Moodle works better for high school and college environments, where the term "playful" takes a back seat to "work." So: Can Moodle look better than this?

Curiosity #3: Should I Moodle?

Maybe that's what I need to be doing: learning how to develop and adapt my own Moodle for my middle school. This way I can contribute to the Moodle community and help improve the Moodle experience for everyone. A colleague tells me that there is a two-day workshop in the area, if I'd like to learn how to do this. Two days? I spend so much time on my own development, my own curriculum, getting a second Masters, especially for my own classroom, I can't imagine having two days to learn how to develop my own Moodle. And then content managing it, designing it- that sounds like a job for a new-hire. Should I spend this much time on this, when a free LMS already exists and fills most of my needs?

"Technology should bring us to a point where we are doing less management- not more."

A Teacher's Viewpoint on LMS
If this all feels daunting for a technology teacher, then what could one expect from a regular classroom teacher? One of the larger frustrations I hear from colleagues in my Master classes, is that it is taking classroom teachers a long time to adopt Moodle to their classrooms. Is this one of those typical frustrations from Ed-Tech: you can purchase the products, but the teachers won't use it? I suspect that's because the coordinators are still vetting the product, improving it, writing new code, and classroom teachers already spend so much time in professional development, that they want to use technology that is already vetted and ready to go.

From a middle school teacher's standpoint, a teacher who loves technology and loves the Apple environment, I enjoy using all of the cutting edge tools with my students. I also enjoy when things work out of the box. This isn't me being lazy, but only because- it's possible. It is possible to have tools- just work. Technology should bring us to a point where we are doing less management- not more. Isn't that where we will be with Web 3.0?

Web 2.0 Really Works
I already have a LMS: it's fun, engaging, secure, and sure- hosted off site. It took me all of 30 minutes to sign-up, add my students, and the look and feel of Edu20 is automatically engaging. It also works as an educational social network, and I can turn on and off any of the functions that I deem my students aren't ready for, like chatting, messaging, and profiles. So in that way, it's sort of "open-source" (I say that with quotes). It already has all of the functions that I want, I just need to turn off the ones I don't want.

Do I worry about losing my content? Not any more than I worry about Google going under or my school falling into a sinkhole. Why would I trust my servers any more or less than Edu20's servers? Just like any online tool, the more people use it, the better the environment gets and the more safe and reliable it becomes. It already integrates with all of the Web 2.0 tools that I already use, like Google Docs and any embeddable content. The number of users grows every day.

Perhaps a tool like Edu20.org is better suited for a primary school like K-8, I don't know, but when it comes to engagement, ease-of-use, fun, and, yes, control, it just...works. I'm having fun using it, and it doesn't require very much management. That has freed me up to- teach, which is what I do best.

So, to all those out there with content anxiety, I ask: what's wrong with Web-hosted? If we all use it, won't it always be there? Should we be this concerned over controlling our content, or should we be more concerned with creating it?

Thanks to on Ingorrr on flickr for the image of the empty cup.

The Ethics of Photosharing

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:16:00 PST

This is a first:

Has anyone ever asked you to take down a photo that you shared on Flickr, Facebook or Twitter? Well, if they haven't- your time is coming. It happened to me last weekend.

This person was upset that I had shared some photos with my Facebook friends that were taken at her wedding- many of whom also were at the wedding (who subsequently also shared wedding photos). She was not a Facebook member or into social networking, and she was upset that so many folks had not seen the "official" photos, which her photographer took, and that she had built her own website for. Oops.

Automatically I thought: are we not but a mere few steps from infringing on someone's privacy rights? It must be simply a matter of time.

As for Facebook, I am now in the "scanning phase" as a user, where old schoolmates I hardly remember are beginning to scan old photos of 8 year old birthday parties I attended (as a child) and have "tagged" me in them. Now, I've always been a pretty loose person on this type of stuff ( i.e. I'm not very private), to be truthful. But when is it too much, and when will it go too far?

Could Creative Commons Hurt Children?
I was recently pointed to Alec Couros's blog about his surprise when he found some not-so-upstanding Flickr followers tongue-wagging over photos of his young daughter. I, myself, have a daughter, and, although I do a pretty good job of making our Youtube videos private and not putting any "provocative" types of pictures out there, I think it's fair to say that Flickr, Youtube (owned by Google) and Facebook are on the precipice of some new privacy litigation either brought on by class-action lawsuits, or by some high profile victim (remember the Hillary Clinton cardboard cut-out breast-grab? She laughed it off, but could someone else?).

It begs a question of Creative Commons. If you allow people to share, mash-up and use your photos, could a knucklehead exploit your child because you put a Creative Commons license on it? Are you giving some perverts permission to do some inappropriate mash-ups? Shouldn't the actual children have rights over their image, if those postings might damage their future careers or their livelihoods? I'm pretty sure child stars have these rights written into their Hollywood contracts, but what about the average kid? Remember the "Star Wars Kid?"

It's still unclear how the video of the Star Wars Kid will have aided or impeded the development of that child. What if this was your kid, and the entire world mashed it up and shared it? What if you allowed it by sharing it under Creative Commons? One might say that Creative Commons doesn't hurt people; people hurt people. If it was Copyrighted, then I suppose you'd have grounds to sue.

There are a lot of questions here that I am not qualified to answer here when it comes to Creative Commons, fair use, privacy, and I hope that those people in the know will chime in on this conversation. Where are we headed?

A Brave New Photo-sharing World
Will we have to sign a waiver before entering an establishment stating that we won't snap pictures of unwitting people? Will we have to sign waivers or confidentiality agreements at our kid's birthday parties? Will cell phone companies and Google, Facebook, Flickr, and others be held responsible for hosting any of these photos, if they are found to seriously hurt someone? And what about RSS? Could Blogger be held responsible for RSS feeds posted on someone's blog with inappropriate Flickr streams? Where does the information start, and where does it end? While I know that most of these companies have user policies that put much of the responsibility with the end user, by offering the tool, certainly someone with a strong enough case could hold these companies responsible at some point.

We could be headed for a litigious nightmare, where we might lose many of these wonderful tools that we love. Or maybe we are going an all-together different route- as the definition of privacy as we've known it- changes in this public world.

I Want an RSS Feed of my Grocery List- and More

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:56:00 PST

If you haven't noticed, I like widgets. I would eat them for breakfast if I could. After reading this post, you might think this is possible. Widgets covered in RSS syrup with a side of permalinks- how does that sound?

RSS is becoming an art form. What can you create an RSS feed out of these days? Almost anything. I have trouble sleeping lately thinking about the possibilities. Last week I found a way to create an RSS feed out of the books that I read. Look below, right and you'll see a feed widget I created on www.widgetbox.com that shows my latest reads and reviews from my visual bookshelf. Widgetbox is my favorite new place to put my RSS feeds. Go there if you like widgets. But do you really care about what I'm reading? Well, I think some people may. If I were another tech teacher, I might be interested in where another tech teacher gets their inspiration.

It's All About Behavior
Lately I've been thinking about all of our online behavior. Social bookmarking, social networking, twittering, work, all of it- and I realize something: all of our behaviors can be represented by an RSS feed, whether it be online or not. In fact, there are some of our behaviors that I have not yet seen represented by RSS, that I think could be extremely helpful to others. We put these widgets in our sidebar because we want to offer our behavior and thoughts to others. So- it occured to me the other day: why not my grocery list? Most of our online behavior is linked to our lifestyle choices, our habits, our hobbies: why can't our eating and exercise behavior be learned from as well (in an RSS feed)?

For me, I am a healthy eater, for the most part, but I really like how one of my friends eats. She eats everything organic, she's never sick, and she looks really healthy. I want to subscribe to her grocery list. Or at least see what she's eating. I need an RSS feed for her grocery list!

Now- I also like how healthy one of our gym teacher's arms look. Very strong and cut. I want to subscribe to his arm workout via RSS.

And then I thought- this is totally possible! I use Peapod! Let's see if this can work....I'll go to www.peapod.com, and I'll find the RSS feed of my grocery list! The applications for something like this are enormous.

And then I thought of more possibilities: why can't I make an RSS feed from my gym workout as well? Why would I do that, you say? What if my personal trainer (I don't really have one) was able to monitor the RSS feed of my grocery list? Could he make adjustments to my workout based on that information? Then peapod.com could make recommendations of food based on my workout history and health feed (needs more protein, cut the carbs). Or perhaps one of those fitness web sites could analyze my food intake simply by how often I eat and how often I have to "replenish" my grocery supply for my home? I could manage my weight problem (I don't really have one) with RSS! Or my doctor could subscribe to make sure my (entirely made up) blood pressure problem was not being affected by my diet. What if, what if?

Ahhh, RSS. The possibilities. The 21st Century will be all about subscriptions.

Did it work?
Alas, this entire charade can now rest. For when I go to Peapod, I cannot burn an RSS feed of my list, and Peapod doesn't offer that info in RSS.

Darn.

So I guess my made up personal trainer, at this point, can't create that RSS feed about my fictional workout to help me from my fictional weight problem.

RSS Possibilities For Education
Do you see the possibilities, though? When it comes to education and my students, I'm beginning to see the value in all of their behavior. What could we do as teachers with that valuable information? If one student is having trouble in school, could that student subscribe to the "more successful" student's feeds? If another student is having trouble focusing, could they subscribe to the RSS feeds of the focused student? Could it help?

Why not?

Thanks to Eileen Dehli on Flickr for this photo.
Thanks to afiler as well for this photo.

Seven Things About Me or...TMI

redferntwo@comcast.net (Daniel Rezac) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:12:00 PST

I've been tagged! So what does that mean? I'm going to have to wait to post that article about "The Ethics of Chain Letters" for another day. This was all started by Angela Maiers. She tagged Ben Grey.

Now, the great Ben Grey has involved me in a plot to discuss seven super things about myself, and then pass this on to seven more super blogger/ educators.

Now, nobody puts Ben Grey in a corner. So, being the sport that I am, I must fulfill my duty as a blogger and educator to tell you seven, most likely, embarrassing things that will surely make me unhireable by the Obama Transition Team. Here goes:

1. I don't own an iPhone: I know, I know. I'm a tech teacher and in ed tech, and I still don't have a smart phone. I tell people that I'm holding out for the Google phone, but I really just say that to get them off my back. And, yes, it makes me feel like less of a man. In reality, my contract with T-Mobile isn't up for another four months, and when that happens...I'm waiting to get the next generation of the G1. So you'll all just have to wait and wait. This Samsung candybar phone better hold on til then. Ooops (just dropped it)!

2. I was a Musical Theatre major in undergrad (for 3 years). I eventually got my undergrad degree in pscyhology. So if you hear me sing an occasional show tune or hum a bar of Miss Saigon and Les Miz, you must really be understanding; I memorized all those songs in high school and they haunt my memories to this day. "One Day Mooooooore..."

3. I owned a personal training and nutrition consulting business with my wife. But now we're teachers, and have no time to work out, so- who cares, right?

4. I try to be funny, but mainly just to amuse myself. I think one of my favorite comedians was Andy Kaufman, whose main job as a comedian was to amuse himself and make jokes at the expense of the everybody else. Sometimes people don't understand my humor, but I'm laughing inside. Isn't that okay? If you get me, then you'll be rolling in the aisles. Glad a few of you out there do get it.

5. My Favorite Celebrity Moment: Neil Patrick Harris in Las Vegas rode the roller coaster on top of the Stratosphere with me and my friend. My friend and I then, unbeknownst to Doogie, followed him around for the next hour, just to "make sure" that it was really Doogie. After he stopped at a pants store to try on pants, we got bored and played some more slots. True!

6. I still believe that I'm going to win an Oscar somehow. I don't know what the road is from educational technology to Hollywood, but I did go to film school for two years. Someday the film knowledge and production skills (Final Cut Pro, anyone?) that I have will be put to use in some way that gets Hollywood's attention. Don't know how, but just you wait. One of my friends was in National Treasure II. Who knows what the possibilities are! I'll spare you the links to my independent films that are on youtube. Ugh.

7. I was in the movie The Right Stuff. You have to look extremely carefully, but you can almost see me in this still photo here:

And this ends the tour of my seven things. Now you know more, and I'm sure you'll want more, so click here. Of course I can't end this without tagging seven more folks, so, hmmm, let's see...

Lisa Durff (because someone had to)

Miguel Guhlin

Anne Mirtschin

Sharon Williams

Jim O'Hagan

Britt Gow

and, just for fun:

Lee Lefever

Now, go to it folks! But don't forget who sent you there! Over and out.

DR