Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

#FlippedClassroom Webinar Reminder #tcea2012

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:44:00 +0000

Are you going to be participating in The Flipped Classroom webinar being held at 6pm CST ?

Join the Webinar here: http://goo.gl/rDRey

February 9 at 7pm ET, 6pm CT, 5pm MT, and 4pm PT

Flipit

View more presentations from Miguel Guhlin.

A bit of an overview:

Not sure about flipping your classroom? Join us in a conversation with teachers and thought leaders who have flipped their classroom, presented about it, and love sharing!! This is the conversation to join where you will learn about how you can flip your classroom, tools teachers use, and some examples. Barbara Bray asked Ramsey Musallam, Jason Kern, and Miguel Guhlin to present some ideas, examples and more. They graciously agreed to share their ideas, tips, and more then we'll ask questions and invite questions from the audience to share in a great conversation about flipping the classroom.

Below is my "short" slideshow. As you will see, I tried to contrast the promise of the flipped classroom--that equips students with technology that is heavily based on video/audio going home with students--with the turbulent homes that low socio-economic students must navigate. Often, children come to school without clean clothes--lacking access to easy way to wash them--as well as school supplies, food, etc.

The question I hope to leave us all pondering is, if you had $500 grants (about the same cost as iPads), children without basic necessities, how would you prepare them for the future?

Source: http://sigilt.iste.wikispaces.net/The+Flipped+Classroom

Join the Webinar here: http://goo.gl/rDRey

February 9 at 7pm ET, 6pm CT, 5pm MT, and 4pm PT

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes - What Content Are You Filtering? #tcea2012

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:14:00 +0000

During the TCEA 2012 System Administrators' Academy, I had the opportunity to Bryan P. Doyle (Bastrop ISD) share his enlightened perspective regarding content filtering. A recurring theme of the TCEA 2012 SysAdmin Academy continues to be the inevitability of the changes rushing at K-12 schools, fueled by powerful personal technologies and people's seemingly insatiable desire to be connected anytime, anywhere.

My favorite quote of the session comes from Gail Lovely, whom I ran into at the TCEA 2012 Web 2 Lounge around 7:50am this Wednesday morning

"Censoring doesn't protect students, it hinders the development of the ability to choose and react appropriately while they're still supervised" Gail Lovely (glovely) via Twitter (02/18/2012)

Left to Right: Gail Lovely (@glovely) and Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin)

"What Content Are You Filtering?"

Bryan P. Doyle, Director of Instructional Technology
http://bryanpdoyle.blogspot.com
Twitter: bryanpdoyle
G+ - http://gplus.to/bryanpdoyle
Session Materials - http://goo.gl/tft5R

Overview of what CIPA requirements are and what you actually are required to block, as well as talking about the whole mindset. It applies to both sides, instructional and information technology.
What does that mean? CIPA compliant?
CIPA only applies to minors...teachers/adults do not have to be blocked.
What if you had a student who was not a minor? Bryan says, "Not according to the document" displayed on the screen.
There are a lot of things that we are blocking...sometimes it's for children, teachers, but CIPA is only about minors.
CIPA does not require the tracking of Internet use by minors or adults.
CIPA does not affect E-rate funding for schools and libraries receiving discounts only for telecommunications, such as telephone service.
Are we the Internet police? We spend a lot of time monitoring, shutting things down. There are some things that we want to block because they are inappropriate, people are spending too much time on it. Rather than redirect staff, we use technology to block it. This has a severe impact on tech staff time.
"Strongest internet filter in the world is the brain" @coolcatteacher via Twitter
We tend to rely on software to categorize web sites. Sometimes, computers are wrong.
"Censoring doesn't protect students, it hinders the development of the ability to choose and react appropriately while they're still supervised" Gail Lovely (glovely) via Twitter (02/18/2012)
"We become the digital playground supervisors providing them guidelines on how to stay safe. Playground equipment is full of dangers but the benefits, we hope, outweigh the dangers. Same with the web." -Dean Shareski
"Accessing YouTube is not violating CIPA rules. 'Absoltely it's not circumventing the rules," Cator says. "The rule is to block inappropriate sites. All sorts of YouTube videos are helpful in explaining complex concepts or telling a story or for hearing an expert or authentic voice--they present learning opportunities that are really helpful.'" - Karen Cator, Director of the Office of Educational Technology, USDOE
So many of our kids, when they want to learn something new, they go to YouTube. One possible option is YouTube for Schools.
What content filtering is your district using?
"Schools can allow access to social media"
Bryan shares the story about the fire near Bastrop and how the District chose to allow Facebook, Twitter, and G+ to facilitate communications.
"Social media also provides students with an audience they could never find within the four walls of a classroom."
Copyright-friendly images - http://compfight.com

Finally, Bryan's message and this Calvin & Hobbes cartoon came together for me!

The last panel in the cartoon above has relevance to this conversation, don't you think?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes - What the Future Holds #tcea2012 #ipads #edchat

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:04:00 +0000

The Education EcoSystem...reminded me more of a universe and made
me ask, when will it contract and implode? ;->

The following notes were taken at the System Administrator Academy held at the TCEA 2012 State Conference. The keynote speaker was Bill Rust (Gartner Group) who shared some eye-opening statistics. The most compelling point was the need for system administrators to change their perspective regarding up and coming technologies--such as mobile learning via BYOD/BYOT, tablet based computing including the "force of nature" iOS, free open source, and others whose time has come.

What struck me the most was the sense of inevitability, the tablet tsunami or unavoidable avalanche of personal computing devices finding their way into schools. As Bill Rust points out, schools are a reflection of society they are embedded in, and our society is making serious efforts to embrace mobile computing at the personal level. . .why shouldn't our schools reflect this reality?

A crude drawing--sketched using Skitch on the iPad--of one of the diagrams Rust shared:

Essentially, in the diagram above, many school districts resisting change fall into the Cafe Fixed Menu, which means that the "CoolKids" users (bottom left quadrant) escape tight controls and choose to go underground or elsewhere with their technologies...I have to agree with that assessment.

He suggests a blend of the Private Dining Club, which is the Cool Kids Club for select people and purposes, and the Cafeteria Buffet. This reminds me a lot of the continuum of control diagram I shared some time back. Here it is again:

MyNotes on Bill Rust's Presentation:

Speaker: Bill Rust and Jan-Martin Lowendahl, Gartner
Session Title: "Education in a World of Choice, Not Chaos"
This is not going to be a technical discussion (sigh) - What have we delivered to our clients globally, what is happening in education. Over the years I've learned not to use technical language.
Takeaway - change is happening and we won't be able to stand in the way.
As CIO, we controlled everything that happened in the data center to the tips of the end user. Those days are gone.
We have to get cooperation to ensure operational efficiency, customer needs (or what they think they need). This is a world of choice...there are choices that are made on both ends.
This slideshow has been given to 10,000 people.
The elephant in the room - Technology has the potential to disrupt education. Disruptive technology is defined as cheaper, better and faster.
Disruption in Media - Is Education Next? Creation -> Production -> Distribution -> Consumption
1. Expensive production facilities
2. Control of distribution channels
  1. Retail chains (music, video)
  2. TV Broadcast networks
  3. Powerful marketing channels
  4. Promoting New content
3. What is impacting the education ecosystem?
4. Education Predicts 2012 - Mobility and consumer technologies are going to rule the roost, and are already doing so in schools...let things in, adding things, and producing services.
5. The media tablet exemplified by the iPad...this is the primary form factor for desktops for students, the world of choice that has arisen is putting stress on people who are providing services to stakeholders.
6. Our key strategic assumptions:
7. By 2016, traditional K-12 agencies will lose 10% of revenue due to loss of enrollment to technology fueld alternatives
8. By 2016, the iPad will gain less than 50% of the K-12 market as CIOs favor devices that are deployed more readily.
9. Through 2015, 20% o higher ed institutions will gain a competitive advantage via a BYOD allowance,
10. By 2016, more than 50% of all e-textbooks will be self-published.
11. By 2016, 40% o higher education will reduce the costs of communication/collaboration and content management assets with learning stack architecture.
12. The iPad is the consumer's choice...and we are powerless to stop this avalanche. If I am the CIO, am I going to spend money that will give me heartache or on something that will work well?
13. There's going to be more and more competition in the tablet arena...more services are arising to help control those.
14. eTextbooks - the use of e-content is a question of when, not if. Do we go zero to 90mph or do we go faster. PDF is OK for now, but that will change.
15. In a typical district, txtbooks are purchased and distributed.
16. If we provide each student with a device with etextbooks, is it a wash? From a support perspective, how does that impact our infrastructure and are we ready?
17. Top Technologies changing the education ecosystem:
  1. Personally-owned devices - BYOT
  2. Change in primary device form factor
  3. Multiple devices - Device and OS agnostic solutions
  4. Customer intimacy on a part with operational efficiency...the argument that these technologies are harder to maintain on the "inside," will lose to the argument that the users want to use technologies on the "outside". Infrastructure folks will have to work harder to support these new technologies. Does the school reflect the outside world?
  5. Opportunities to change and refine the organization and delivery of instruction
18. STEEP = Introducting Structure to Chaos ("Eating the Elephant in Pieces")
  1. Society Education Inflation
  2. Technology - Technical Turmoil
    1. Death of distance
    2. Consumerization
    3. New infrastructures
    4. Exponentially increasing options of means of production and distribution, both for individuals and institutions
    5. Access to the Internet has grown in millions of users, as has the number of mobile phone subscribers in millions
  3. Environment - Energy Uncertainty
  4. Economy - New Normal...what is your return on investment (ROI)?
  5. Political - Retreating Responsibility -
19. What is changing the education ecosystem?
  1. Consumer IT
  2. Mobility
  3. Accountability - providing teachers with more data
  4. Emerging technologies
  5. Societal expectations
  6. Education Options
  7. Business Intelligence Tools
  8. Collaboration
20. The assumption is that if we have students that can collaborate, then their productivity will be increased.
21. Strategic planning assumptions:
  1. By 2013, 80% of business will support a workforce using tablets.
  2. By 2014, 90% of organizations will support corporate apps on personal devices
  3. By 2018, 90% of enterprise applications will be targeted at web-based OS agnostic environments
22. Education EcoSystem Concept - refer to picture - http://m.lockerz.com//s/181557514
23. If we are locked into Cafe Fixed menu, we push the "Sit with the Cool Kids" into the underground or leave altogether.
24. We can offer a degree of choice that we can support (Cafeteria Buffet) and offer the "Private Dining Club"
25. Technology Planning POVs
  1. The extremes of operational efficiency and customer intimacy...their choice, our choice, and how we decide who gets to choose what.
  2. Operational efficiency: an ATM that works great but no one can reach it.
26. Growth of broadband: the Internet is more ubiquitous.
27. HypeCycle - take emerging tech and put them on a curve when they are going to be most useful. Terms: Technology Trigger, Peak of Inflated Expectations, Trough of Disillusionment, Slope of Enlightenment, Plateau of Productivity
28. Emergence: 5 to 10 years
  1. BYOD Strategy
  2. Social Software Standards
  3. District App Store
  4. BPO
  5. WaaS

You might also consider this infographic:

Created by: Online Teaching Degree

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes - iOS Headaches #tcea2012

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:44:00 +0000

What a phenomenal presentation by Chris Nilsson (Lamar CISD in Texas) on iOS implementation. It's well worth reading the notes, if you're reading this prior to Thursday at TCEA2012 conference, attend Chris' session on the subject. His presentation was the subject of lunch table conversation, it was that informative and relevant to what Districts are doing in schools!

Here are my imperfect notes on his preso:

iOS Headache? Get a Grip on Your Devices

iCafe.lcisd.org

Chris Nilsson - cnilsson@lcisd.org - @chrisnilsson

Director of Instructional Technology/Staff Development at Lamar CISD

Lucky to have a team of people that still work with teachers at the campus.
Recovering high school Physics teacher...feels privileged to touch the servers from a teacher perspective. Glad there isn't that disconnect in his district of 27000 students in the Southwest side of Houston. 32 main campuses, opening 5 campuses in the next 4 years. Always in a bond cycle to keep up with growth.
How fast can we deploy these things...and how did we end up with these devices? It's unfortunate that we're here to talk about managing iOS devices. The deployment just took off on its own and you're trying to wrap your hands around it...$2million deployment in Lamar, and we don't know how to manage them. We treated them (iOS devices) as they were a recycling bin or something.
INTERACT = staff development program where we invite 4 teachers from every campus and they spend an intense week (8-5pm) on Robert Marzano Strategies, becoming a master teacher with technology. We get the opportunity to do this. At the end, the teacher gets $10K to buy whatever they want for their classroom. Whatever works for you...any kind of technology.
Not a district that wants to prescribe what you use to enhance your teaching. We'll give you the tools to support you.
Agenda:
1. Device management
2. Content Management
3. Volume Purchase Program
4. Lamar CISD's Hybrid Model
iOS Progress
1. iOS 2 - First true operating system for these devices. App store, iPhone Configuration Utility. iPod Touch ships. Lamar is sitting on 3000 iPads and 6000 iPod Touch.
2. iOS 3 - Multiple iTunes accounts on a device. You can sign out of an account and sign-in with another one.
3. iOS 4 - Native mobile device management (MDM), wireless App distribution*. MDM is the ability to touch devices from a remote server. Wireless app distribution comes from Apple, not from customers.
4. iOS 5 - PC free, iCloud, Push Apps*. This breaks the link from the computer
Device Management - Apple's Version
1. Device Settings - You can touch the device settings (e.g. Wifi, Passcode, Web Clips). Tip: put links to training materials so that can be pushed out to devices.
2. Restrictions - Web, Youtube, App Store, Camera, FaceTime, iCloud, Content Ratings. You can turn the camera off, turn off stuff. You can set restrictions, but students can set their own restrictions. The app store can be restricted but it stops you from installing apps. If MDM is used, but app store is off, then you can't load...we just want to remove access to AppStore not turn it off.
3. User Configuration: Exchange, LDAP, VPN
4. Security - APN, SCEP, x.509 (Cisco security firewall). This is more for proprietary companies with ultra confidential info.
5. iOS Configuration Files - Uses XML file. You give it a key, then a string. You can build XML files and employ those settings. The iPhone Configuration Utility allows you to build XML files visually.
Content Management - Music is Personal. iTunes was designed to keep it that way. It all started with iTunes...the ecosystem of controlling--iTunes as the gateway to protect copyright--colors everything that happens on these iOS devices. We have to work inside the iTunes world.
3 types of accounts:
1. Personal - What everyone uses, sync multiple personal devices, can purchase apps, iTunes is built around this. Teachers are encouraged to sign on with iTunes accounts. You can sync multiple personal devices with your iTunes. These are personal devices....the problem is that teachers are loading their personal account--and purchasing $.99 reading app--on classroom devices.
2. Group - Sync multiple devices; Can't pay for apps. For a set of iPads (e.g. library). District emails are used, you can't buy anything for these.
3. Volume Purchase Program (VPP) - Apple's answer to enterprises, difficult to manage, full of holes, and all we have. There are more Android OS out there...Android does have a way to pay for multiple copies of an app. Apple is afraid of losing its top app developers.
  1. Districts can attempt to comply
  2. Tax free
  3. Volume discounts - if you buy 20 or more copies of an app (like keynote at $10, you can get it for $5)
  4. Provides some degree of hierarchy
  5. Holes
    1. Purchases are still treated as consumables. It doesn't take long for $.99 app to hit the $10K mark, and the District doesn't keep ownership of it. At some point, we'll be held accountable for that. Are you providing them with income? Example: I have a district owned cell phone. I can't make personal calls because then it's considered as income. How long can we do the same with consumable apps?
    2. Updates are free - for apps, for iOS. I don't want to treat something as consumable that I can upgrade for free.
    3. Purchases are NOT linked to an account at the point of sale. This is a huge hole in the VPP program. It takes 5 weeks to get your VPP account. Once you get access, you can get access to quite a bit.
    4. VPP volume portal card - It looks like the app store, key in your 12-digit number. Your master account controls it, and you have to create sub-apps. You put $100 into the Volume Voucher App Store. You select 10 copies of Keynote, provides you with Volume Purchase Codes and are linked to Keynote. They are not linked to the account who bought them, so they can be given to anyone.
  6. Enterprise Management
  7. MDM Platform - a utility that bundles the iPhone configuration utility, auditing, security, VPP management and takes advantage of push notification service. This is $100 per year for the VPP management.
  8. MDM Platform (JAMF SOftware's Casper) -
  9. when an iPad joins an MDM platform, it agrees to be controlled. Once the enrollment is accepted, it can be touched remotely.
  10. There are 20 major players in MDM. Jamf is about handling full Mac deployments,and this is a recent addition.
  11. (providing a walkthrough of the Casper MDM...features include General, Passcode, Restrictions, Wi-Fi, VPN, email, Exchange ActiveSync, LDAP, CalDAV, CardDAV). These features are in all the different apps.
  12. YouTube can be disallowed in a profile.
  13. Profile named CIPA browsing--for iPads going home with students--and loads MobiCIPA browser, removing browsers that can go anywhere. When you delete the Profile, everything comes back. (this is impressive in the demo!!)
  14. Smart Mobile Device Groups - dynamically defined. Lets you do search codes based on a variety of items such as General info, mobile device details, location, purchasing, apps, security, network, certificates, config profiles, provisioning profiles...this metadata is stored and Casper can find it. You can scope policy, etc. to select devices.
  15. You can manage policies from anywhere. You can also make groups within groups but they are all at the root level...no nesting of groups.
  16. VPP - everytime an app deployment profile is built, it is reflected in the list of Mobile Device App Catalog. You have to deploy 1 app at a time...you can't group the apps together.
  17. For mobile device app, you can deploy automatically or make available in self service. Do not deploy apps automatically...
  18. When you purchase an app in Volume Purchase Store, you get a tabl. The table has code, status, date, username, device...Free apps can be loaded without codes, but paid apps.
  19. Scope - find a group that has the iPads you want.
  20. Casper Self Service - the code for this portal lives on the district server. "All apps installed through self Service portal must be loaded with LCISD iTunes account. Do not use a personal account." When you install, the Apple ID and password pops up. When you do the app install, it shows you the Apple ID and password to the left. Every 4 hours, that password is changed, verifies that the password was saved, and then saves that password in the SQL database.
  21. MDM Limitations
    1. Users can delete the MDM profile
    2. Not a true app push
    3. Can't delete apps
  22. If the user removes the MDM Profile, all apps associated go away. You cannot install a managed profile that is locked down. Students can remove the MDM Profile and they can do stuff. . .however, MDM admin will know that the students removed it.
  23. A Hybrid Approach
    1. Personal - encourage the use of personal accounts. Do not load your personal account on multiple devices.
    2. Group accounts - Turn autosync devices, managing installs from one iPad (teacher) and other devices (student) will get the app installed. If it's a free app, load it here.
    3. MDM - for paid workshops.
  24. Session is being repeated on Thursday "iOS Headache".

@BigMarker Adds Recording and Offers Free Premium Communities (Giveaway - Time-Sensitive)

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:44:00 +0000

A big announcement from BigMarker.com that you'll want to read is shared in this blog entry!

Some time ago, I wrote about my experiences with BigMarker.com. My complaints were as follows:

No recording capability. This was terrible because while BigMarker.com could be used in much the same way as Elluminate, recording stuff was just a no-go.
BigMarker.com was too slow for desktop sharing, although it worked fine for slideshows, whiteboard, etc.
And, in an email suggestion to them, I also asked for Moodle 2.x module/block integration.

Earlier today, I received the following announcement...note the highlighted sections:

BigMarker now fully supports your Communities. Web conferencing is just one of the many project management tools that you can use to grow your Community. Communities are your place to sha re your passions and interests, educate, organize, host business meetings, and connect with anyone in the world.

As a big thank you for being such wonderful members, we are giving you free, lifetime Premium BigMarker Communities. While Public Communities will always be free, beginning March 1st, there will be a monthly fee for Private Communities. Any Community you create or have created before March 1st will always be free. As we add more Premium features, your Communities will automatically be updated, free of charge.

Additionally, anyone who joins within the next month will also receive free Premium Communities, so be sure to get the word out to your friends, family, colleagues, and anyone else who might be interested in BigMarker.

Now, on to you have been patiently waiting for: The Updates!

New Changes:

Your Communities
- You can assign Organizers and Presenters within a Community
- Clubs have transformed into Communities
- Instead of your personal profile you now have a Personal Community
Record Your Conferences
- This was our number one most requested feature, and we want you to know that we heard you loud and clear
- When you create a Conference, make sure you select to Record the Conference on Page 3: Other Options. The system begins recording as soon as you enter the Conference Room and publishes the recording on your Conference Page
Community Features
- Tasks and Projects
  - Assign your Community members Tasks to ensure due dates are met and keep track of them on the Task Timeline and Calendar
- File Sharing
  - Share various files and stay up-to-date with all your necessary information
- Community Bulletin and Newsletters
  - Keep all your members informed about the comings-and-goings of your Communities and Conferences
- Kudos!
  - Send Kudos to thank your fellow members for a job well done and keep track of Community stars on the Kudos Scoarboard
- Dues and Applications
  - Raise funds to accomplish your Community’s goals
  - Find people who will be perfect for and contribute to your Community
Other:

Dial-in is back
- Can’t get to a computer for your conference? You can now call in with your phone
Community Blog
- Submit your Community’s Blog to Joe.Yeoman@BigMarker.com and have it published for all the world to read
New Conference Servers in South America

We are constantly increasing our service across the globe, and South America is our latest addition.

We are working tirelessly on making the Conference Room more reliable and faster.

Will BigMarker.com live up to its promises? I haven't had a chance to try it, but I will be giving it another hard look. Still, exciting news for folks who are looking for an awesome online tool to facilitate elearning but can't set up their own Big Blue Button server for their organization or afford Adobe Connect, Blackboard Collaborate, etc.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

#Moodle 2.x Admin Video Series #tcea2012

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Image Source: Adapted from http://goo.gl/YTCRv

In anticipation of a Moodle workshop entitled, Energize! - Moodle on a Laptop, I've drafted my notes on many aspects of Moodle administration and created 5 minute video walkthroughs--updated for Moodle 2.2--for each topic. The videos are rough-hewn, but provide a better tutorial than screenshots and text, IMHO.

Although I prefer Linux--view the UbuntuLinux version of these notes sans videos--these days for Moodle server, running Moodle on a Windows Laptop is pretty straightforward. My notes below are immediately for that, although once you get down to Step 6-7, it's all about Moodle.

I hope this is helpful to a budding Moodle administrator out there, not just the folks in the workshop at TCEA 2012 State Conference!

XAMPP Windows Server for Moodle

Welcome! This is a short outline with video illustrations. You can access all the videos here.

Be sure to watch the MoodleMayhem intro video first!

Step 1 - Get the Software You Need (View Video Walkthrough)

Chrome browser - http://google.com/chrome
XAMPP (Apache, MySQL, PHP and Filezilla FTP Server) - http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html
PS Pad text editor - http://www.pspad.com/en/download.php
phpMyAdmin - http://goo.gl/rbskS
Moodle 2.2 - http://download.moodle.org/

Step 2 - Install Software in this Order (View Video Walkthrough)

Chrome browser
PS Pad text editor
XAMPP - install onto D:\ if on a server or C:\ if it's your laptop or desktop computer. If in a server environment, check with your server admin for specific drive to install to. Start the Control Panel, which should put an orange box on your screen.

Step 3 - Create Shortcuts and Necessary Folders (View Video Walkthrough)

Go to the hard drive (C: or D:) that you installed XAMPP on, and make a shortcut on the Desktop for the htdocs folder
Create a folder called mdata at the same level as htdocs (not inside it)
Unzip the Moodle 2.1.3 zip file you downloaded in Step 1 and drag the Moodle folder--you can rename this to anything, such as "sandbox"--into the htdocs folder.
In the mdata folder, create a folder that has the same name as your Moodle folder (e.g. "sandbox")

Step 4 - Modify PHP.INI File (View Video Walkthrough)

To modify the php.ini file, you will need to go to the XAMPP folder and then find the file.
Open the file with PS PAD (although most text editors will do the job), and make the following changes:
- display_errors = Off
- display_startup_errors = Off
- register_globals = Off
- post_max_size = 2000M
- mysql.connect_timeout = -1
- max_execution_time = 5000
- max_input_time = 5000
- memory_limit = 2000M
- file_uploads = On
- upload_max_filesize = 2000M
Save your changes to the php.ini file.
One possible problem that may arise is that phpMyAdmin comes up in Dutch/German. To address that, edit the config.inc.php file in the phpMyAdmin directory and paste in:
$cfg['Lang'] = 'en-utf-8';
to ensure it always loads in English. Note: The video for Step 5 addresses the phpMyAdmin issue.

Step 5 - Start Using the XAMPP Control Panel (View Video Walkthrough)

Activate Apache by clicking the START button
Activate MySQL by clicking the START button
Start up Chrome browser and navigate to http://localhost on your computer. This should bring up the XAMPP language selection page. Choose English or your preferred language.

Step 6 - Working with MySQL (View Video Walkthrough)

Database creation
1. While viewing the XAMPP page, click on phpmyadmin in the menu and then create a new database that will be used to house your Moodle content. For the purposes of this handout, let's call the database "sandbox"
2. When you create the database, make sure to choose "utf8_general_ci" collation since that is required by Moodle.
3. After creating the database, you should now see the database name "sandbox" down the left-hand side of the screen inphpmyadmin.
Localhost User
1. You will want to create a user that interacts only with the Moodle database. This username and the assigned password will ONLY have localhost access to the server. Localhost access means anyone not accessing the server--as if they were sitting in front of it--would have access to the server. This prevents unauthorized use of over the Internet or the local area network of the user.
2. Go to Privileges in phpmyadmin and create a user called "sandboxer" with the password of "Sandbox123%" without quotes. Be sure to GRANT ALL privileges.

Step 7 - Installing and Configuring Moodle

A. Installing Moodle (View Video Walkthrough)

Are you ready to install Moodle? You should now have 4 pieces of information:
- The name of the Moodle database - sandbox
- The name of the MySQL user allowed to access sandbox database - sandboxer
- The password of the MySQL user - Sandbox123%
- The location of the Moodledata folder - C:\xampp\mdata\sandbox(Note: If you are installing on a real server, change the "C:\" to reflect the drive where you installed XAMPP)
Go to your web browser and type in the URL of the server, or, if on your own computer, type http://localhost/sandbox
You should see the start of the Moodle installation. Follow the steps suggested.
After you've installed Moodle, you should see everything pop up as normal.

B. Configuring Moodle (View Video Walkthrough)

After the installation of Moodle, you'll be asked to do some configuration of Moodle.

Session Handling (View Video) - How to Deploy Multiple Moodle Instances on one server with different cookies
Setting Up CRON Jobs (View Video: Part 1 | Part 2) - Read more about what is Cron. Use the Moodle Cron package. The simplest way is to use this little package MoodleCron-Setup.exe, which makes this whole thing very easy by installing a small Windows service. Run it and forget about it! :-)
Managing Courses

Course Default Settings with a quick overview of group settings (View Video)
Course Categories (View Video)
Backing Up and/or Duplicating from Restored Course (View Video)
Restoring Courses (View Video)

Some additional topics:

C. Moodle User Authentication (View Video Walkthrough) - How do users login to Moodle?

External Database Authentication - Interested in creating your own external database that users can authenticate to? Read these suggestions.
Bulk User Import (View Video Part 1 and Part 2) - Need to quickly import users into Moodle? Although this isn't recommended for large numbers of users (e.g. use External Database or LDAP), it can be a handy trick to know! You may also want to read this tip on bulk updating user roles (e.g. switching students to teachers).

Sample Excel Spreadsheet you can download and modify to fit your needs.
CSV file that you can look at as an example to know what your Excel Export/SaveAs CSV file should look like.

D. Adding Modules/Blocks/Themes to Moodle

The process for both of these involves placing the block/mod/theme in the similarly named folder within your Moodle instance (e.g. Sandbox) and then visiting the Site Administration->Notifications page and following the directions (click the UPGRADE button).

How to Install Blocks/Modules into Moodle (View Video) - Here are some great recommendations for modules/blocks via Gavin Henrick at Some Random Thoughts blog.
How to Install Themes into Moodle (View Video) - The process

E. Setting Up Email for a Moodle 2 instance (View Video) - If you want your forum email subscribers, email self-registration to work, you'll need to setup email on your Moodle instance.

Step 8 - Securing XAMPP (View Video Walkthrough)

XAMPP installation is not secure as it is so you need to secure it. One of the ways to accomplish this is to follow the Security instructions available online.
Go to http://localhost/security
After taking these steps, remove the index.php file and the contents of the htdocs folder EXCEPT for the newly createdsandbox folder. Note: This will remove your access to phpmyadmin. We will install it in a moment.

Step 9 - Installing PHPMyAdmin (View Video Walkthrough)

When you emptied out the contents of the htdocs folder--except sandbox--you removed the link to phpmyadmin, which allows you to interact with MySQL databases.
Make a folder called "myadmin" without quotes.
Unzip the contents of the phpmyadmin.zip file you downloaded in Step 1 into the myadmin folder. Make sure you do NOT have a folder path that looks like this: C:\xampp\htdocs\myadmin\phpmyadmin since that will cause problems. Instead, when you look at myadmin you should see a list of files.
Go to C:\xampp\phpmyadmin and copy the config.inc.php and paste it into C:\xampp\htdocs\myadmin\
Test that it's working by going to http://localhost/myadmin
If successful, you should see a login screen for phpmyadmin

Step 10 - Take a Break

Step 11 - Upgrading Your Moodle 2.x Installation

Since you will eventually be called upon to upgrade your Moodle installation, this is what you need to do:

Backup Your Moodle Database (View Tutorial)
Backup your config.php file in your Moodle directory in htdocs
Download the latest version of Moodle 2.x to your computer.
Copy your old Moodle's themes, mods and blocks--this is a good time to upgrade
them--into the new Moodle version you've downloaded from Moodle.org
Delete everything else in your Moodle directory in htdocs EXCEPT the config.php
file.
Copy the contents of the new Moodle 2.x into your old directory.
Go to http://localhost/moodlename/admin to complete installation

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

The Value of Free - Slaying Dragons Reborn in New Form

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Source: http://cdn.onecommunity.co/sites/
default/files/images/dragon_slayer.jpg

Some time last week, a proponent of expensive "cool, popular" technologies for schools in his iPad advocacy (you know who you are, dear friend), sent me a link that challenged the idea of free. Free as in no-cost...it's the idea that we should have to pay for classroom technologies, not just get them a la free, open source. As such, the article on Information Does Not Want To Be Free is used to support the purchase of expensive technologies schools just can't afford. I don't think the article can be used that way:

...separate pieces now become one, they blend into one another. They aren't centralized core competencies anymore. This is represented by the idea that there are no more consumers now, there are only “users”. As a result, this transformation alters fundamentally the whole media value chain. This is potentially disruptive to many companies.
But it does not mean that users will not pay for information or content. (Source: Information Does Not Want to be Free)

The idea that we must pay for the means of information distribution, how we create content isn't entirely true.

Speaking more specifically about the Open vs. Closed debate, too often we hear the criticism ”Users don’t care about open”. This is absolutely true and the reason why most open efforts fail. Users don’t care about open. They care about utility and choice. This is why the only way to continue propagating the open web is to work with BUSINESS. B2C. Startups, Media Brands, The bigco Tech companies. They care about open because the proprietary winners are kicking the losers...and that usually means there are at least 1 or more other guys who need a competitive advantage. They need to team up and build, deploy and popularize the open alternative. That’s why open always wins. There’s always plenty of losers around who are going to commoditize the popular closed thing. As technology leaders we’re paid to care about things users don’t care about. Things that shape the future. While users, in the short term, might not care, we should dare to think and dream a little bigger. As a case study look at Android vs. iOS. iOS is more profitable for a single company, but the other is now a force of nature. (Source: The Open Web is Dead--Long Live the Open Web)

While Apple may have a powerful tool in iPads, ibook Author, there are concerns for any educator who sees creating and sharing of content for noncommercial, attribution, sharealike purposes. Simply, why create content that Apple would control (link shows Apple has changed its EULA)? Still, why not output to ePub format rather than the stolid PDF? Instead, I'd prefer to create my content using a different free, open source tool (e.g. Sigil, LibreOffice.org) and share it with the world, whether they use iPads or inexpensive netbooks running Linux OS.

Why would anyone accept a restriction on the ways they can distribute content if they can use other tools that have no such limitation? A variety of reasons come to mind: 1) Technologically challenged; 2) The tool is great and the user doesn't care about restrictions; 3) They are ignorant of the possibilities of free, open source ebook creation tools.

As a result of a second article in the LA Times made me have another thought that draws a comparison between old ILS approaches and new ones from companies like Apple.

Today, though, I am reminded of a conversation I had in my early career as a teacher and campus technology coordinator in Mt. Pleasant ISD schools. My principal had pulled me out of my 3rd grade bilingual classroom--my students were involved in using Tom Snyder's The Graph Club to create, well, graphs about their favorite vertebrate and invertebrates or something like that so they could be conveniently attended by a colleague without specific direction from her--to meet with a vendor. The vendor? A representative from a prominent integrated learning system (ILS).

In my youthful exuberance, I derailed the salesman's approach to selling the campus an ILS, pointing out that I wanted my students to be constructivist learners (I had just read The Case for Constructivist Classrooms and was fresh on the research debunking ILSs), using technology to exemplify "to know is to know how to make." Of course, who knows if constructivist approaches still endure the onslaught of testing, etc. That might be an interesting blog entry...what theology came after constructivist approaches were cast aside? Hmm....

;->

In my mind, I remember the words of an article that said something along the lines of, "There's no way schools can resist the influx of technology into schools...there's too much money behind it." Unfortunately, that observation from Tom Snyder remains true today.

It's great to suggest that every student should be equipped with a laptop or given 24/7 access to Wi-Fi, but shouldn't our federal bureaucrats figure out how to stem the tidal wave of layoffs in the teaching ranks and unrelenting cutbacks in school programs and maintenance budgets first? School districts can't afford to buy enough textbooks for their pupils, but they're supposed to equip every one of them with a $500 iPad?
"There are two big lies the educational technology industry tells," says Reeves. "One, you can replace the teacher. Two, you'll save money in the process. Neither is borne out." (Source: Michael Hiltzik, LA Times)

It's easy to blind oneself to the possibilities of technology. But it's even easier to go blind AND deaf when discussing new technologies. In my Twitter stream, I saw a new blog entry announcing 4 ways to use Pinterest in the Classroom. Having written many of these kinds of blog entries myself, I am as guilty as they in embracing new, cool technologies for use in K-16 classrooms.

Yet, there just seems to be something wrong when we embrace technologies that cost an inordinate amount of precious taxpayer money, as opposed to a fly-by-night "Web 2.0" site that may or may not endure the test of time. Am I the only one who thinks we should stop reaching for the coolest, most popular app delivery platform, and instead revisit what our fundamental mission is? And, if you end up with the cool tools, at least, you'll know it was because you started with what you wanted to accomplish rather than what the marketing and salesmen for a technology encouraged you to try.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

#FlippedClassrooms Webinar from ISTE @bbray

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:06:00 +0000

Thanks to Barbara Bray's kindness, I've been invited to participate in an ISTE SIG-ILT webinar, The Flipped Classroom. Here's a quick overview from the information page:

Not sure about flipping your classroom? Join us in a conversation with teachers and teacher leaders who have flipped and love sharing!!

Join the Webinar here: http://goo.gl/rDReyFebruary 9 at 7pm ET, 6pm CT, 5pm MT, and 4pm PT
This is the conversation to join where you will learn about how you can flip your classroom, tools teachers use, and some examples. Barbara Bray asked Ramsey Musallam, Jason Kern, and Miguel Guhlin to present some ideas, examples and more. They graciously agreed to share their ideas, tips, and more then we'll invite questions from the audience to share in a great conversation about flipping the classroom.

The Flipped Classroom Panel includes:
Ramsey Musallam (http://www.flipteaching.com)Ramsey is a high school chemistry teacher at Science Department Chairperson at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in downtown San Francisco, and an adjunct professor of education at the University of San Francisco. Ramsey's doctoral research focused on the cognitive benefits of using sceencasting and tablet technology to help facilitate meaningful learning.
Jason Kern (http://edtechemu.blogspot.com/2011/01/flipping-economics-classroom.html)Jason is the Director of Technology at The Oakridge School, a K-12 school in Arlington, TX (www.theoakridgeschool.org). He went back in the classroom to co-teach an economics class last spring to try out the flipped model. This is what the economics post and blog are about. The class continues to use the flipped model so the blogs are current with this semester’s new students. They have also had several other teachers use the flipped model for appropriate units including middle and upper school science, math and foreign language. Jason thinks flipping is the best pedagogical tool to gain back valuable class time and allow teachers to spend more time doing hands-on learning.
Miguel Guhlin (http://www.mguhlin.org/2012/01/3-tips-on-flipping-your-classroom-with.html)As Director of Instructional Technology for a large urban district in Texas, Past President of the state-wide TCEA Technology Education Coordinators group in one of the largest United States technology educator organizations, he continues to model the use of emerging technologies in schools. You can read his published writing, engage him in conversation via his blog at Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org.

Your host is Barbara Bray PD Chair for SigILT (http://barbarabray.net)Moderator is Katie Christo President, SigILT

To be honest, I'm frightened to death of being a part of this conversation as a professional educator because I haven't implemented "flipped classroom" methodology before.

Read the blog entry,
3 Tips on Flipping Your Classroom with #iPads - http://goo.gl/SYoLa

That fear aside, it wasn't too difficult to imagine how iPads could fit into the Flipped Classroom vision, which is what caught Barbara's attention.

For fun, I've decided to explore The Flipped Classroom from a contrarian perspective, the first blog entry appearing today. I welcome your insights and opinions (including the, "You don't know what you're talking about!!") since it illuminates the various points of view that exist about this.

Corlita's Way - #FlippedClassrooms and Turbulent Homes
Ms. Englehart's Seeks the Path - #FlippedClassrooms in Poverty-Stricken Schools

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Make It Work - Cherry, Whip Cream and Schools #iPad #edchat

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:03:00 +0000

The "new" meatball sundae?
Source: Tech & Learning, February, 2012

"Social Media...How to make it work in the classroom." The headline elicited a laugh. I haven't read the article yet and don't know who wrote it (ok, I've clicked it and I see some familiar names, including Texas' favorite librarian, Carolyn "technolibrary" Foote! Kudos!). A question going around in my mind is, how have schools re-aligned themselves so that powerful, easy to use technologies like the iPad and Linux-based netbooks impact the bottom-line of schools?

Should school teachers be mobilizing to spend so much time making technology designed for personal, non-instructional use work in the classroom? It's a question that some school districts may be asking, and it's a great way to introduce technology that has no purpose being mis-appropriated for classroom use with students. In fact, we can have a bit of fun with the idea and invite others to conversation...maybe the T&L article would be a start.

As much as I enjoy using social media, are our current curriculum & instruction efforts fundamentally aligned with the use of emerging communication, collaboration and curating technologies? Should we be going down this road? I'm reminded of Seth Godin's Meatball Sundae (a must have book for school PR professionals) message:

Image Source: http://goo.gl/svKpa

A meatball sundae is the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas. The meatballs are the foundation, the things we need (and sometimes want). These are the commodities that so many businesses are built on. The sundae toppings (hot fudge and the like) are the New Marketing, the social networks, Google, blogs and fancy stuff that make people all excited. (Source: Meatball Sundae)

Seth Godin elaborates with this scenario:

You go to a marketing meeting. There’s a presentation from the new Internet marketing guy. He’s brought a fancy (and expensive) blogging consultant with him. She starts talking about how blogs and the “Web 2.0 social media infrastructure” are just waiting for your company to dive in. “Try this stuff,” she seems to be saying, “and the rest of your competitive/structural/profit issues will disappear.”

Seth goes on to write:

Most of the time, despite all the hype, organizations fail when they try to use this scattershot approach. They fail to get buzz or traffic or noise or sales. Organizations don’t fail because the Web and the New Marketing don’t work. They fail because the Web and the New Marketing work only when applied to the right organization. New Media makes a promise to the consumer. If the organization is unable to keep that promise, then it fails.
New Marketing—whipped cream and a cherry on top—isn’t magical. What’s magical is what happens when an organization uses the New Marketing to become something it didn’t used to be—it’s not just the marketing that’s transformed, but the entire organization...You can become the right organization. You can align your organization from the bottom up to sync with New Marketing, and you can transform your organization into one that thrives on the new rules.

The connections between Seth's message and what school edtech advocates are trying to do with technology lie below the surface. If we unearth them, the message is startling direct:

If schools want to use new technologies, they have to transform themselves, aligning themselves to learners' revised expectations.

For school technology directors, it won't matter if you bring in the latest, cool technology. If nothing changes, you're slapping a cherry and whip cream--iPads, netbooks, etc.--on foundational ideas of standard curriculum, standardized uses of technology that lock technology down. Students' expectation, parents' and community's expectations of technology like the iPad in schools are...what? And, if you lock those down, are you being entirely honest or just building the meatball sundae? No doubt, tough questions for organizations that don't want to change.

"What's your instructional purpose?" asks a colleague of anyone who wants to deploy a new, exciting technology in a classroom, boardroom, or school. Unfortunately, that is an unpopular question for his district administrators that would rather not spend time thinking about that. Their focus is often giving the impression of innovative change by putting hot technology in the hands of students and teachers.

Over the last few weeks, I've been exploring iPads as a viable alternative for the creativity tool in schools. While the choice may seem obvious when comparing a Windows-based netbook to an iPad+keyboard+AppleTV, I don't believe it is so obvious when comparing a Linux-based netbook to an iPad with peripherals (more on that later). Wait, wait, stop laughing!

A quick comparison by a traveller that concludes the iPad is the better

Of course, the comparison is doomed from the start for a simple reason--iPad is already the "darling" of school administrators looking to score a public relations hit with local community members, etc.

Consider these news article excerpts:

Since the iPad launched last year, some schools have replaced textbooks with E-books. Programs in two thirds of the 600 districts are new for this year; others started these "one-to-one" programs, in which schools provide one iPad for each student, soon after Apple released the tablet in April, 2010. (Source: USNews)

***

Jeff Bertrang is the principal of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop High School, located in south central Minnesota. When the iPad debuted in 2010, his school decided to make the investment and buy one for each student, about 375 iPads in all. Bertrang wanted his students to have the latest technology but beyond that, he didn't want them to have to go to a computer lab to get it.
(Source: Marketplace Tech Report)

***

“It is a fun, engaging device that makes them want to learn. It’s like a magic learning tool.”
Michelle Lissoos, managing director of Think Ahead, a company which implements technology in schools, said she had seen iPads have a positive impact on pupils.
“We are seeing schools which have never thought about technology, opening up to technology in a way they had never imagined before.
“They are really something that can narrow the digital divide.” (Source: CapeTimes)

From hard-working productivity devices to "magic learning," technology use in schools has evolved. We aren't looking for technology that will make us more productive necessarily in the old-fashioned sense (pre-iPad = old-fashioned), but rather, technology that will help us accomplish what we want to do quickly, be light to tote around (ending the heavy backpack syndrome) and be drop-dead simple to use. The bewildering array of apps can be handled one at a time, reducing complexity in the interface.

Android-based Transformer Prime tablet,
comparatively priced to iPad

As you read remarks on iPad usage, it's obvious that the iPad--and certain competitively-priced Android cousins--there IS some mass hypnosis going on when it comes to the device. It appears that many see it as an unstoppable force coming into schools.

We need to peel the layers on this phenomenon and ask, "Is this the way we want Joe Plumber, hard-nosed fiscal radical conservatives who already see teachers and administrators as over-paid babysitters who are failing at their job of educating America's children, to see us spending taxpayer dollars?"

Brian Weaver (Texas educator) makes this point in a Google+ conversation that is well-worth considering:

this post started based on so many of us observing the purchasing model known as "OMG WE BOUGHTS 10,000 IPADS! ANYONE HAVE IDEAS ON WHATZ WE CAN DO WITH THEM!?" haha. worst tweet ever was last year when somebody posted their sob story about how their new ipad wouldnt be in in time to "show off at TCEA". seriously? is that what this is about? The OP is in education. Most of us posting on this thread are. As tablets related to teachers, students, staff, can anyone (+Greg Smith included) say that they are the best choice? +Rusty Meyners can tell you that google docs and other things just "arent there YET" on a tablet. If we are being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, tablets probably arent being purchased for anyone for a few more years at least.

Technology for technology's sake has been around for a long time. In fact, K-12 education has a fatal case of the disease that requires us to buy what society perceives as "the best" technology, not realizing that the best isn't necessary. Is that the case in regards to the iPad?

In 1998, Jamie McKenzie (FNO.org) wrote an engaging article on technology for technology's sake perspective:

The educational world is awash with foolhardly, expensive and ill-considered technology ventures that may line the pockets of vendors while doing very little for the capabilities of teachers and students. If these ventures downplay the critically important role of strategic teaching, they may end up short on results and long on expense. These ventures threaten to drain away scarce resources from other programs (libraries, arts, counseling, roof repair and reading) without guaranteeing offsetting gains.

Read the rest of Jamie's 1998 perspective. Then, line it up next to Jamie's 2011 article, Is the iPad a Game-Changer?, created with an iPad:

I have never placed much confidence in the promise of the many tools and gimmicks that have arrived upon the educational scene during the past two decades, arguing that "toolishness is foolishness." I think this case is different. Tablets like the iPad are likely to be game changers for schools and their students.

The days of technology as a tool are over. I hope I never hear the words, "I believe in using technology as a tool" again. Instead, perhaps we should all practice: Tablets like the iPad enable magical learning experiences for our children, enabling creative diversity, information/idea curation, and collaboration" and if you are so inclined you can add this part: "within the "box" that Apple built and controls with an iron-fist." Oops.

After all, if China and India kids can learn to program on a Linux machine, edit video, produce content, is Apple's vision that they too also carry iPads in schools? Will using iPads result in the kind of skills that Americans, Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians, British the edge they need to beat back the hordes of cheap labor, low-cost engineering from China, India and other countries? I don't know. Maybe toolishness IS foolishness. The more tools you can use, the better at work, but not necessarily in school?

Read my blog post, Video Editing on Netbooks

Ben Grey's post at EdReach--iPad vs Netbook for a 1:1--really hits the nail on the head when it comes to deployment.

Let's review some of Ben's expectations for what kids do in schools:

Word processing with a keyboard - on a netbook running Linux, you have access to no-cost, full featured word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation tools like LibreOffice, as well as the lighter AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet. All free and offering more features than the iPad equivalent.
Built-in video projection plug
Audio editing - Audacity is a simple, powerful, easy to use audio editing tool.
Video editing - OpenShot is a powerful, easy to use video editor that leaves Moviemaker in the dust.
Cloud computing and storage - If you don't want to use laptop based apps, you can always take advantage of Aviary's Audio/Video/Image Editing tools, Pixlr.com image editor, GoogleDocs, etc. No limits on a netbook.

Ben points out the following:

I believe the netbook can provide the educational opportunities with technology that we want our students engaging in...at a fraction of the cost with an open platform that affords students more opportunities than an iPad does.

I don't disagree with Ben. The iPad may be a game-changer, the question remains, do we really want to spend precious funds on iPads, keyboards, the requisite Apple TV and all for what? What IS the instructional purpose we're trying to achieve?

Or, put another way, how have schools re-aligned themselves so that powerful, easy to use technologies like the iPad and Linux-based netbooks impact the bottom-line of schools?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Technology Mgmt - Free Training and/or Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:03:00 +0000

A colleague recently shared the following free training opportunities:

And, from the CoSN group, Certified Education Technology Leader assessment is available! Exam info below:

If you are looking for a way to boost your skills and add a line to your resume, then you should apply to take the new Certified Education Technology Leader exam. This is a nationally normed exam that is based on the Framework of Essential Skills for the K-12 CTO. Read the attached flyer and register soon. The deadline is February 3 for the upcoming administration.

You can find the online application form for the assessment here.

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Corlita's Way - #FlippedClassrooms and Turbulent Homes

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:02:00 +0000

A Flipped Scenario:

Source: http://goo.gl/EZYe7

When Corlita left Seguin Elementary school, in her backpack she had something that was worth more than everything she had in her home, including the clothes on her back--an Apple iPad 3. Her teacher had put it in her hands, shown her how she could access the teacher videos on tomorrow's lessons. Corlita couldn't wait to get home, a corner of the Children's Shelter set aside for children to do their homework. After dinner, she planned to snuggle up and watch the videos. As a 5th grader without access to television, watching her teacher talk would be just wonderful.
After dinner, though, her Mom showed up to pick her up.

"Sweetie," she started, the moisture of tears damp upon her cheeks, "we're going home to Grandma's!"
"What about my homework, Mamí?"
"No te preocupes, amor. We'll move Tuesday through Friday, and you get a vacation! We can drop your books off to Ms. Englehart at the door and she can walk them over to your old school tomorrow morning!"

In urban centers, children not only face poverty, but also high mobility between campuses in a school district, or school districts within their "home" city. Worse, turbulent home environments make learning at home an unstable proposition. Flipped classroom boast great results, but what about the poor, the homeless, who fight for a bite to eat in the night, trying to survive the chaos of parents unable to keep themselves, much less their children, in a stable environment conducive to learning?

As wonderful as the flipped classroom appears to be, it relies on several key ideas:

lectures can be seen at home, while homework activities are done in class
more face to face time is spent by teachers with students applying knowledge
students can login to some online learning system to watch videos and chat with each other.
more student interaction in the classroom

As a parent of two children who have access to technology, I'm not sure I'm prepare to have them come up to be "introduced" to hard-hitting, advanced placement content absent a teacher. Even though we've seen students moving online to access content, everyone knows the interaction is where learning happens. But absent a teacher, how is interaction in some online learning system enabling grade 3-12 students to learn?

How do students build the discipline to learn on their own in turbulent home environments?

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Exploring #! Crunchbang Linux

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:04:00 +0000

As a result of some Google+ conversations, listening to the sometimes slightly bawdy EverydayLinux, I decided to give a lightweight Linux distribution a try--Crunchbang.org Linux which is represented with a #!

Crunchbang is described in this way on their web site:

CrunchBang is a Debian GNU/Linux based distribution offering a great blend of speed, style and substance. Using the nimble Openbox window manager, it is highly customisable and provides a modern, full-featured GNU/Linux system without sacrificing performance.

You can download it here - http://crunchbanglinux.org/downloads/

Video tutorial on installation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_yJOWM7p0U&feature=youtu.be

The first thing that threw me off was the keyboard setting...it wasn't set for US. This manifested itself when I couldn't type an email address at a login page...the @ symbol wouldn't appear but quotes " did. It seemed an insurmountable problem for me since I had never encountered it before, but then noticed a button in the top right hand corner of the screen (if you look at the screenshot above, it's in the same place as US). I clicked it and the keyboard switched to US...enabling me to type @ and other symbols normally.

The second thing that is throwing me off is the mouse. On Lubuntu (LXDE), the mouse movements are smooth. On Crunchbang, my old Logitech mouse seems to want to think about its next move after I move it, resulting in slightly jerky motion across the screen. It's not TOO bad, but disconcerting when you've grown accustomed to a smooth moving mouse.

Aside from those two concerns, minor to say the least, everything is working smooth. Installing additional apps is a cinch if you're familiar with Debian/Ubuntu variants (sudo apt-get install shutter which I use for screenshots). I couldn't help but notice that the install simply FLEW.

A colleague on Plurk is always pointing out that his Linux distribution of choice isn't working with Java. Although Crunchbang comes with Adobe Flash, MP3 player support--not to mention VLC Media Player--I was surprised to see built-in Java support. (sudo apt-get install java-common j2re*)

Also, I had to reset my time settings (sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata)

Aside from that, Crunchbang does seem to work as advertised...

I haven't decided if I'll keep it on, or just switch back to LubuntuLinux...I do like the minimalist theme.

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Taking Flight - Mobile Devices Blur Boundaries

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:47:00 +0000

Source: http://goo.gl/rOLxk

Facilitated by mobile devices, blurred boundaries of work/school and home bring opportunities for conversation with our children, don't they?

My 18 year old, when I ask what she's doing texting as we head out to dinner, quickly points out as she hands her phone over--voluntarily--that she's collaborating on her homework. Good thing, too, since her homework is often over my head. That kind of response took one colleague by surprise, when she asked her son why he was doing this at the table at a restaurant. "Sorry, Mom," he replied, "we're working on our big chemistry project and I needed to answer a few questions." Children are nimble learners amidst schedules that adults impose on them for their own good.

While it's clear that mobile devices can be employed for social activities, often at inappropriate moments, in my home, education activities take precedence. If you have work to do--writing, reading, calculus--then it's a priority over social gatherings during the "work/school" week. My Dad taught me that lesson. "I'll wash dishes, son, if you have homework." What an incentive to focus on learning, what a powerful lesson to send about my role in my children's lives.

And, I'm starting to see more of this collaborative texting, learning in sync, showing that thinking and learning ARE 24/7 types of activities...you don't just shut down or flip off the switch. Of course, having written all that, modeling how to "shut down" and tune out the incessant hum of content, lay aside the role of curator, creator and collaborator...that's essential.

Of course, I did remove the phone from a teen's hands last night, like I once removed a hard plastic toy from my child's hands, as she slept curled up, guarded by a fierce teacup poodle. Oh oh...I may get maudlin.

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#Google Edu resources launched

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:18:00 +0000

google.com/edu

You know, it's amazing how many neat web sites are launched per day. Here's 3 more to add to your social bookmarks, courtesy of Tia Lendo at Google (she shared it via the Google-Certified Teacher list I get to lurk on, thank you so very much):

Check out 3 new resources we launched today for educators and education-enthusiasts. Thank you to the MANY people on this list who contributed stories, feedback, and support:
(1) WEBSITE- A newly-improved website, google.com/edu, which is a one-stop-shop for Google in Education.

(2) +PAGE- A Google in Education Google+ page, which has news, tips,and discussions (goo.gl/G42c3).

(3) BOOKLET- A booklet, "Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning,” which describes how people are using Google’s education resources (google.com/edu/about.html).

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Thanks Joe Smith @ TexasISD.com!

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:25:00 +0000

Technology - http://www.texasisd.com/cat_index_37.shtml

When I stopped being a columnist for Education World and TCEA TechEdge, I gave some serious thought to seeking publication sources elsewhere. And, though, I've published in several print magazines, written a chapter--or collaborated in two cases--in a book, had my articles featured in books, etc., I have to admit that the greatest satisfaction in writing thus far has come from this blog, Around the Corner! I don't receive any pay for blogging and find it difficult to imagine my blog festooned with advertising, which I tried once and cringed at the sight.

It's hard to believe that when I started blogging 6 years ago or so--about the same time Wes Fryer did, as a matter of fact--for fun, for learning, that I would find myself still doing it long after my initial burst of curiosity. That Around the Corner readers continue to visit, read, comment, and share flashes of reflection and learning day after day boggles the mind.

As exciting as it is to get published in print, I find myself addicted to blogging. It provides a "high" that comes from being in "the zone" and being creative. And, I also am grateful for the work of other hard-working authors and curators of information that are out there, like Joe at TexasISD.com. Though we've never met, it's easy to see how hard he works to keep Texas educators informed about what's going on.

As you can see from the screenshot at the top of this post, Joe was kind enough to feature TWO of my blog entries. He's done this enough times in a year that I "publish" as much to a wide audience of Texas folks as I once did through other publications. Wow!

This means my blog is read by superintendents, central office and campus administrators, and many others throughout the State of Texas. There are days I wonder if that's a good thing or not...but it must be because it allows sharing of a critical message that sometimes I don't think is getting through to them, insulated as they sometimes are by folks afraid or unwilling to have crucial conversations/confrontations with them.

Thanks to all Around the Corner readers, to Joe Smith at TexasISD for including content from ATC, and I hope that you will continue to find what is shared here worth reading.

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BYOD and iPad Filtering Solutions +

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:05:00 +0000

Source: Lightspeed, http://goo.gl/scosS
(no endorsement/preference implied)

What kind of solutions does your school or organization use for BYOD Filtering? I'd love to hear from vendors with products and what their features are for this new area in K-12!

Although this blog entry focuses on filtering, it does encourage technology directors to crowd-source resources for BYOD filtering, as well as share what devices they're jumping into, such as Android or iPad or something else.

We are going to a BYOD model next school year. We will be giving the "have-nots" a laptop (maybe Linux or Windows). In order to stay CIPA compliant I need to provide filtering for these laptops when not on campus. I may also have a need for filtering IOS and Android. I am looking for a cloud based filtering service for these devices. I have looked at Barracuda (but it does not work with Linux, based on what I read), I have also looked at Lightspeed. (but I noticed a lot of you abandoning it on this list)

An esteemed colleague, Bryan Doyle (Bastrop ISD), suggests keeping the following features in mind:

It had to be capable of managing the SSL connections for Google Apps to work
No client side software
A remote filter for devices that are off the network (just in case we need to go that route)
BYOT support to ensure an easy way to create a way for users to agree to the District's Responsible Use Policy and also authenticate to the network if they have district credentials.
A less expensive recurring cost
24x7 support is very important
Override functionality is also an important feature

Ed Newman has come up with a list of neat questions for BYOD implementation...

Do you have a wireless infrastructure that will support a device for each student?
Do you have a wireless infrastructure that will support (2.4/5 GHZ b/g/n)?
What do you plan to do if your wireless infrastructure will not support the wireless radio in a personal device?
How are do you plan to handle connectivity issues with the personal devices?
Do you have a way to handle mobile device management?
Do you plan to deploy Virtual Applications or Desktops to end user devices?

What additional questions would you ask? Question #6 is a fascinating approach because some districts are choosing to let schools use what device they want but pushing a "standard virtual desktop" that give everyone a uniform experience and access. One of the tools used includes Virtual Bridges (this is not an endorsement).

To facilitate clarity on features that school districts need, I've started a GoogleDoc and opened it up for fellow technology directors to crowd-source what they think is appropriate in 3 areas:

Filtering features
BYOD Questions
Districts deploying Android vs iPad

Source: Apple Insider, http://goo.gl/DTvAO

Some suggestions for filtering from Texas Tech directors include the following:

Barracuda Web Filter
Bloxx
CIPAFilter
Cisco Ironport - Per one source, "Ironport doesn't like anything from Apple and mobile devices. And those two pieces are fairly importan...It has problems authenticating both and requires a lot of management to get them to even see SSL sites."
Fortinet - http://www.fortinet.com/
Lightspeed - This product didn't seem too popular among tech directors in Texas who reported on its use, mentioning they had just switched to other products.
Impero Classroom Management
Microsoft ForeFront Threat Management Gateway
M86 - http://www.m86security.com/
Sophos Web Protection Suite
WebSense

Considerations when you're going BYOD/iPads:

How will it handle GoogleApps https:// ?
How do you handle filtering for devices that are district-owned and go into students' backpacks? Do you have them "phoning home" where "home" is the district or filter tool? Here's how someone put it: "That being said there is generally an assumption (at least in our community) that a district device is automatically filtered at all times. So if you are sending a device home I suggest you make sure you discuss exactly how that device may or may not be filtered when it is not on your network. That way everyone is on the same page with what to expect (whether you filter or not)."

In regards to that second question, I found this observation at the end of the article, When Web Filtering Comes Home, to be enlightening:

We are working on this very issue, and we have found it is almost impossible to send home the device filtered with iPad2's deployed to 735 middle school students. We are using JAMF Casper to deply apps and were hoping it could allow us to turn off Safari and only use a safer browser called K9 to provide filtered Internet access. However, Apple only alllows Casper to force 500 devices to check in at a time. Also, all a student has to do is turn off his wireless access on the iPad, and his device will not update to remove Safari. It's really been an uphill battle with the iPad. Our netbook projects at the elementary level do have filtered Internet at home.

Here's the big question: if parents provide Internet access for their family, who are we to monitor what happens at home? The kids are on the Internet all the time on their phones. It's not filtered. I think trying to decide what a family does with Internet access is one step too far. We provide the device at home. It should be up to the parent how it's used and how they monitor it.

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MyNotes - Exploring JAMF Casper for #iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Getting started with iPad management? Your best first step for a demo is to participate in the live iOS demo that is held every Tuesday at 2:00 PM CST. To register, please click here on next week's date: http://www.jamfsoftware.com/events

As I shared in several posts--you can find them here--mobile device management can save you a lot of white hairs and frustration. I finally had a chance to glance through Casper materials and here are some of my take-aways....

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MyNotes - #iPads in the ClassroomFive Essential Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Image Source: http://goo.gl/ZYyuJ

What a great article on how to approach redefining technology in the classroom. This article resonated with me for a simple reason. Today, I received a phone call from a colleague whose campus is applying for a grant. They want to put iPads in the hands of middle school students, all of them young women. What a neat deal! Of course, concerns immediately came to mind.

Source: Infographic, http://goo.gl/Z283w

More infographics:

DigiGirlz
Web Developers vs Web Developers (cute)

It doesn't hurt to keep in mind that more women are needed in STEM and embracing computer science...of course, do iPads and computer science go well together, really?

Among the concerns--management of iPads, deployment, training--was a much more important one. How would teachers and administrators go about changing the way they approach teaching and learning?

This article by Jennie Magiera goes after this question.

Quotes:

Education Week Teacher: Redefining Instruction With Technology: Five Essential Steps

Redefining Instruction With Technology: Five Essential Steps By Jennie Magiera

First, I had to learn a hard lesson: Just bringing new technology in your classroom and working it into day-to-day routines isn't enough.

The iPads were not helping my students make substantial progress toward self-efficacy, academic achievement, or social-emotional growth.

"What have we been doing so far with this technology?" Students used math apps instead of math card games. They'd made slideshow presentations for isolated units. They'd done some research on the Internet. In short, things were going ... OK. Nothing to write home about. Not what I would consider "worthy" of a $20,000 grant.

The problem, I began to realize, was my own understanding of how the iPads should be utilized in the classroom. I had seen them as a supplement to my pre-existing curriculum, trying to fit them into the structure of what I'd always done. This was the wrong approach: To truly change how my classroom worked, I needed a technology-based redefinition of my practice.

Break down to rebuild.

I would have to be willing to depart from what I had "always done" or "always taught."

By setting aside my pre-conceived notions of how my classroom "should" look, sound, and feel, I was able to transform my practice from the ground up.

Redefine with a goal in mind.

When rethinking your curriculum and classroom, identify the goals you have for yourself and your students. I focused on two important goals: increased differentiation and robust, efficient assessment. Next, I asked myself, "Can the iPads help me reach those goals?

a few examples:

I created interactive video mini-lessons to increase differentiation.

I used online student surveys and audio/visual apps such as Toontastic to allow my students to voice their emotions, curiosities, and academic goals in private.

To redefine assessment and differentiation, I employed websites such as Google Docs and Edmodo to create a faster feedback loop. These sites utilize color coding, instantaneous feedback, and automatic student grouping to allow me to immediately analyze data.

Get more app for your money.

I moved away from content apps, such as Rocket Math or Math Ninja, which are very engaging but only address a handful of standards.

I focused on student-creation apps.

students are now creating their own math videos, writing math blogs, and conducting challenge-based-learning math projects.

the app Educreations allows students to record notations on a virtual whiteboard along with their narration, generating a multimedia lesson or problem explanation. This app can be used to address standards in all subjects and engages students at the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy: creation. Other versatile creation apps and programs include Toontastic, iMovie, Garage Band, PaperPort Notes, Kabaam, Popplet, and Aurasma Lite.

Embrace failure.

encourage risk taking—and greater achievements.

Enjoy the results, reflect towards the future.

After redefining my classroom, the iPads were out all day, every day. They were being pushed to their limit so that my students could be pushed to theirs. This effort paid off: 10 times as many of my students scored at the 90th percentile or above on the 2011 state test as compared to the 2010 state test.

"[iPads] make me want to come to school every day because I know that Ms. Magiera has a lesson just for me."

Classroom redefinition is an ongoing process, and I can't wait to discover what tomorrow brings.

Jennie Magiera is a 4th and 5th grade math teacher and a technology and mathematics curriculum coach in Chicago Public Schools. A Teacher Leaders Network member, Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction, and Apple Distinguished Educator, she explores best practices in math pedagogy and technology in her blog, Teaching Like It's 2999, and on Twitter @msmagiera.

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Strong Relationships and #FOSS Saves Districts' Money!

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:14:00 +0000

Source: http://goo.gl/lARsH

A local equipment/furniture rental place ends every advertisement with, "We can SAVE YOU MONEY!" Unfortunately, I must have heard this commercial too many times and it's stuck in my head like a jingle you can't forget.

On a listserv today with other tech directors focused on free, open source solutions, a colleague shared the following story. It was such a motivating one, I felt I had to share it with you:

As I look at switching my district to Linux next year (servers with Ubuntu/Edubuntu desktops and laptops) I will need you guys [listserv] more than ever. As more and more schools face the budget crunch my distrcit has (and will again next year) I feel the FOSS movement will be more marketable....

Intrigued by this remark about switching to Linux, I asked her to tell us more....

I approached it from the financial standpoint. We had a $150,000 budget cut this year and were just informed to estimate a $140,000 cut next budget year. Every penny that I can save the district is one less cut that teachers must face that might impact their curriculum. I set up a demo unit to show the powers that be how advanced these “free” programs have become and challenged them to find something it couldn’t do.

But I do have to admit that this was an easy sell to the board as most critical services for our district are already web based and we had already pushed Google Apps out this year to great reviews. 69 desktops161 laptops (we are a 1:1 district 7-12)5 serversOur current ADA is 212. We will be using FOG to reimage the machines over the summer. But I am changing the common area computers (lounge, library, etc.) after spring break so that people get the opportunity to start seeing the new systems immediately to hopefully lessen the shock value in the fall. Also, all of my tech trainings (the third Thursday of each month) are going to be showcasing the new systems. My superintendent and principal agreed to give teachers comp days in August if they attend my summer trainings. I have to also admit (truth in advertising here) that I think my district’s small size is an advantage here. They all know me personally and trust my judgment. If I tell them I can make it work, they believe me.

Has this tech director come upon a formula for success? Consider the following:

The relationship she had with her peers enabled them to know her personally and trust her judgement. This enabled her to bring about powerful changes that some district leaders would scoff at..."Pshaww...Linux? Give our children a break! That's insane when Mac or Windows are available!" The power of relationship building proves that before you begin any major change, build a solid relationship with people.
Get top-level support from district and campus administrators.
Take advantage of web-based apps, such as GoogleApps for Education.
Use free solutions like FOGProject.org to facilitate reimaging computers
Offer frequent professional learning that highlights the changes being made.

Of course, some will argue that small is better in this situation. A PT boat (pictured at the top of this post) is more maneuverable than an aircraft carrier. More importantly, though, is making sure that #1 your relationships are strong, you have top level support, and you take advantage of free, open source tools and web-based apps with regular professional learning.

Kudos to the tech director in this district!

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Continuum of Control - #iPads, #BYOD

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:05:00 +0000

Source: http://goo.gl/iOY15

For someone who purports to not like iPads, I've certainly spent a lot of time exploring their use in K-12 schools! A quick review of iPad related posts I've written look like this:

iPad Deployment

Part 1 - iPad Deployment - Do Over.
Part 2 - Carts, Cases, and Peripherals, Oh My!
3 Tips on Flipping Your Classroom with iPads
Programming on the iPad = No Sharing
The World that Built iPad
iPad and Textbooks
How to Clone iPad Settings and 7 Other FAQs
iPads in the Classroom - MyNotes from a Great article

And, I've also detailed my own experiences with the iPad as I explore it and editorialize:

Recanting iPad Gloom and Doom
Blogging via iPad Blogger App
iPad Experiments Day 1 and Day 2, Day 3
The Mark of Apple
Tricks to Gmail on iPad
The Road is Open
Getting Video and Audio onto your iOS device

Update: iPads vs Netbooks for a 1 to 1 deployment by Ben Grey

The reason for that is simple--although I have my preferences for the technologies I choose to use, I believe we need to find the right tools for the job. You can't do that if you shut down dialogue and, as the Crucial Conversations authors put it, move to "silence or violence."

The diagram shown above captures one representation of the Crucial Conversations silence or violence. My hand-drawn version of the diagram, which I drew based on my listening to the audio of the books, includes Mutual Respect, Dialogue, Trust in the grey circle where one finds "Safety" above and flips it sideways (not a major change, I know). As the authors point out, the longer it takes to travel back to dialogue and shared meaning, the harder it is to do so.

This comment is also relevant and I'm including it in the main post for now:

I was just showing my 13yo daughter the "Pool of Shared Meaning" diagram and we were discussing it. She made a neat observation. She pointed out that as we work on or build our relationships, our grey ring (safety, mutual respect, dialogue and trust) grows. And therefore, the frequency and likelihood of ending up in the red ring (silence or violence) reduces. So having a "wide" grey ring would mean that we have a "narrow" red ring...
What a great point! When we focus on building our relationships, we increase our capacity to build shared meaning in healthy, productive ways - instead of falling back into unhealthy, damaging habits like silence and violence.
Food for thought from my wise young woman... :-)

You can take a 33 question, "Style Under Stress" assessment for free. Since I've been working hard on my own skills, I decided to take the assessment today and saw this snapshot of where I'm at:

My Style Under Stress^™ Scores
Silence		Violence
Masking	1	Controlling	0
Avoiding	0	Labeling	0
Withdrawing	0	Attacking	0
Silence Total	1	Violence Total	0

Check the chart below and notice which aspects of silence (masking, avoiding, or withdrawing) or violence (controlling, labeling, or attacking) that you use. All behaviors that move you toward silence or violence have consequences.

Source: http://goo.gl/is0P1

What does this have to do with iPads? Consider that planning and implementing ANY kind of change can result in stresses to your work relationships. It's easy, as I pointed out in this post, to fall for the Sucker's Choice (another Crucial Conversations term), an either/or proposition between two poor choices that involves trading one for the other. For example, if we're going to do one to one, it has be done with iPads because our Community won't settle for less than the best. The other option could be something less desirable.

"The possibilities for learning, student interaction and enhanced campus services that the iPad unleashes will all come at a price," Kim says. "Nothing about a tool as wonderful as the iPad will lower the cost of constructing or delivering education."

Source: Joshua Kim as cited in FastCompany article

It's easy to fall into this trap because we want to provide the best to our children, we don't want to admit that we're "broke" as school districts. While the economy is solid, we can afford to skip this choice, or so we tell ourselves. The truth is more "wrinkly" than that.

One technology director recently wrote (anonymized) the following:

Teachers and students are using their personal devices as they have them, sharing when necessary. We also have devices available for checkout during the school day for those who do not have personal devices but need them for class.

This is one of those wrinkly issues, isn't it? The first inclination of school technology directors in various locales is a continuum of control that looks something like this rough-hewn sketch (did I mention I flunked art in Kindergarten?):

Where do you think remarks like the following fall in on the continuum of control?

I just came from a discussion at [regional service center]. The topic came up about [state org] only offering 1-1 training using Ipads. The uniform response was how unfortunate that it is that this is the only approach being promoted. NO one was taking this approach, and all are saying the same thing. Relying only on apps, and trying to distribute them is a nightmare.

***

"Personalization of the device is key to the success of implementation," shared one regional service center-based educator in Texas, "and people really embracing their use of it effectively."

***

"Because teachers already used iTunes, they could manage the iPads themselves."

***

We took the route of giving them the option to use their personal Apple ID. I really didn't want them to have a work and a personal account. My thinking was if they already had an Apple ID they were already using iTunes in their personal life. I wanted the device to integrate into their life as much as possible, because I figured they would use it more and we would reap rewards from that.

***

...one of the biggest benefits of the iPad is the freedom with which end-users can explore and customize their learning. That is taken away the second you start managing their account centrally and selecting what they have on their device. We felt, that while it's true there would be some loss with the apps when the person leaves, it's much like a consumable workbook that we used to buy. For example, we spent over $120,000 in "materials" for ELA curriculum a couple of years ago. If we spend $50 per device (haven't hit that number yet) on all 2300 devices we have, we'd be close, but not quite at that number. Also, when we purchase, we include a $50 app fee so that VPP cards are both with the purchase

How your district moves from one end of the continuum to the other is where the rubber meets the road in terms of leadership, isn't it?

For me, it's always about the HOW to get these kinds of conversations going. This is naturally a tough role for me, so I've had to work at nurturing conversations over time.

Miguel - Thanks for taking the time to post this well-written article. The more we share our frustrations and successes with mobile learning environments, the easier it will become for all! - Tammy Worcester on #iPad Deployment - Do Over.

I couldn't agree more. We have to keep the dialogue open, and, in the case of some school environments, open it up again. Otherwise, implementing iPads is a nightmare.

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Convert OGV to WebM #ubuntu #lubuntu

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:25:00 +0000

Converting via command line on left side, using Transmaggedon on the right.

Earlier tonight I made some recordings (of Moodle 2.2 setup) using the gtkDesktopRecorder, which works great. However, since I'd be sharing these videos with a colleague, I needed to convert them to WebM format on my LubuntuLinux (very lazy, don't want to reboot to Windows to use FormatFactory).

My first video, I converted using Transmaggedon, which works quite well, but...took forever (25 minutes for a 50 meg video) and I could only convert one at a time. So I started looking for a different approach and found this one by Paul Rouget.

Using the Terminal, I was able to type in the following command on multiple tabs and get simultaneous conversions going...the video input/output files are in bold:

Try #1 - Failed!

ffmpeg -i out-1.ogv moodle2.webm

The command line was a lot faster, unfortunately the quality stunk! So, then I tried the following (from Paul's site):

Try #2 - Failed!

ffmpeg -i out-1.ogv -acodec libvorbis -ac 2 -ab 96k -ar 44100 -b 345k -s 640x360 moodle2.webm

But the quality stunk on that one, too. Sigh.

Try #3 - Failed!

ffmpeg -i out.ogv -f webm -sameq out.webm

Not knowing what the right settings are for ffmpeg, I'll have to keep using Transmaggedon (sudo apt-get install transmaggedon), which has been working great on the conversions to WebM (albeit one at a time and slow).

For fun, here's the original OGV file (99.4 megs) and the converted WebM file (21.8 megs). You have to like the smaller size! And, no, I didn't script this at all. It's a rough-n-ready video for a colleague.

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#iPad Deployment Part 2 - Carts, Cases, Peripherals, Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:05:00 +0000

Image Source: http://goo.gl/6UAWN

Contemplating an iPad Deployment? Join me in my journey to explore some of the questions I've seen others asking, and asked myself.

"What kind of cart," someone asked me recently, "should I get to house all the iPads for our high school deployment?""And," asked another, "what kind of cases for the individual iPads should we buy?"

These are two natural questions that come up and while this blog entry can't be an exhaustive response to all of that, here's what I notice a few districts and technology directors have recommended. At the end of this blog entry, I revisit one of my fundamental objections to the iPad--simply that it is an expensive creature to feed and care for in cash-strapped schools.

That aside, I hope this post will be useful to those looking for one-stop shopping. I've also included some additional links that deal with the "culture" side of deployment...in another blog entry that's upcoming.

Types of Carts

Apparently, there are several types of carts to house your iPads. What you're looking for in these cart or cart-like solutions is one that will allow you to both charge and sync at the same time. Some of the most popular--that is, recommended by the tech directors I correspond with--include the following:

#1 - Bretford PowerSync Cart - This cart is designed to handle up to 30 iPads. From their web site: The new PowerSync Cart for iPad allows you to store, charge, sync, and transport up to 30 iPad devices at a time. Building on our award winning designs, the PowerSync Cart for iPad will allow you to bring an iPad learning lab - 30 devices - to any room in your building, and keep your content in sync with iTunes®.

One of the neat aspects of this cart is that it can serially "image" your iPads:

For example, if we hooked all 30 up in the Bretford cart and tried to update to the latest iOS, it would start one, and the rest would just wait until that one finished. Then the next one in line would start. This can take quite some time if you have a large deployment.

#2 - ParaSync solution - Another "cart for the iPad is the ParaSync, pictured below:

ParaSync 10-unit Charge and Sync (there is a 20-unit ParaSync, too)

From their press release, here is some of the information. To the best of my knowledge, no one I know is using the ParaSync for iPads:

The new PARASYNC for iPad stores, charges, and syncs content to 20 iPad devices from one iTunes library.

With no manual cable connections, simply insert the iPad with the included case into a slot to charge and sync. Each PARASYNC for iPadincludes 10 specially designed cases to protect both the iPad and the docking system!

Convenient charge status LED's show whether the iPad devices are charging, fully charged or syncing. PARASYNC for iPad looks great and its compact footprint (19" x 11") fits nearly anywhere.

There's an informative Frequently Asked Questions document online at http://www.paratsolutions.com/parasync-faq.html

If you're in attendance at MacWorld 2012 (Jan 27, 2012), it will be unveiled there.

Cases for iPad

The wrong case for an iPad can really get in the way. Much of my initial irritation with iPads came from trying to carry around an iPad2 in an iPad case that was too bulky and heavy. The best thing I ever did was invest in a Zagg keyboard/case and that has eliminated much of my frustration with carrying around a tablet that feels like a full-size laptop.

Some of the cases for iPad include the following:

iPad 2 Leather Case with Stand ($5-$10 via Amazon) - A well-reviewed item, probably what I would buy my children if an iPad came home in their backpack one day. It's inexpensive and has great reviews.

Other cases worth checking out:

Apple iPad Smart Cover ($39-$69) - A colleague was using this and the main benefit is the lack of bulk, which would have been a winner for me if I hadn't seen the Zagg keyboard/case combo.
Logitech Zagg keyboard/case combo ($100) - I love the one I have and if that isn't enough praise for you, c'est la vie.
Kensington's Blackbelt Protection Bands ($29.99) - These fit around the corners of an iPad to protect it.

A round up of cases can be found online here. . .most of these are pricey.

Peripherals

Although I haven't spent as much time looking at peripherals for iPad 2, there are a lot I'd like to try out. In all honesty, one of the factors that sets the iPad apart from it's Android brethren--or so I think, perhaps incorrectly--is the wealth of peripherals available for it.

Apple VGA Adapter - Lets you hook your iPad up to any digital projector that support VGA input.
Apple TV ($99) with AirPlay - Stream content from your iPad over WiFi. For those using the Apple TV in a school setting, a tip: Turn off the NAT control for wireless and/or use it on a small network with its own wireless access point.

You will want to read these blog entries on the subject as well:

Apple's Component AV Kit ($29.99) - Makes it possible for you to plug into your television.
Apple Digital AV Adapter ($39) - Allows you to hook up your iPad to an HDTV
iD9 Speaker Stand - This features a "universal dock to charge and play iPad, iPhone or iPod while docked"

Should We Do This?

Allow me to be blunt. Often, iPad initiatives are nothing more than school leaders getting excited about technology that looks hot, cool, or whatever adjective you want to use. In the end, implementing iPads can be an expensive proposition, far more expensive than handing every student an inexpensive netbook.

Another blogger did something I've been wanting to do...put it all in a simple table with an explanation:

So is the iPad a fundamentally different device that will change education in a way that a $300 laptop cannot?

item rough cost

base model iPad $500

third-party insurance $79-99

case $6-$100

keyboard $40-70

After $626+ per student (not including tax) the iPad can function as a traditional laptop at around or above the same price per unit. Some schools are going further and supplying stylus, earphones, microphones, SD cart adapters and other peripherals. Note that, as with any new technology purchase, this price is just for the actual hardware. There are still costs involved with software, set-up, support and training – costs that can easily rival the initial purchase order. The iPad isn’t necessarily a bad investment, but it is a significant one, especially considering that computing devices are subject to planned obsolescence.

item	rough cost
base model iPad	$500
third-party insurance	$79-99
case	$6-$100
keyboard	$40-70

Source: The Apple iPad Will Not Save Your School

As you can see from the management issues and cost of extras, is the cost really worth it? Only if the organization itself has the wherewithal to implement a complex, costly initiative like this. If you want to find out if your organization can implement iPads--it's an acid test, isn't it?--then ask yourself if you've been able to implement anything else successfully. If the answer is YES, then you're set. If NO, do everything you can to stop the expense.

"The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."
Source: Bill Gates

More on the culture side of implementation in a future blog entry...in the meantime, what are YOUR thoughts about cases, carts, peripherals for iPads in school settings?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

#BYOD Issues RESOLVED with @Amazon #Kindle #Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:05:00 +0000

A short time ago, you may recall this blog entry entitled, #BYOD Issues with @Amazon #Kindle #Fire. The main issue stemmed from the seeming inability of the Amazon Kindle Fire to connect to a school district's network. That problem has been resolved and it was NOT the Amazon Kindle Fire!

Here's the problem (as a refresher):

I have a couple Kindle Fire Tablets that we are experimenting with. I am unable to access the internet through our system. The Kindle will connect to the wireless access points and will get a valid IP address from the dhcp server. I can ping the Kindle and the network connected icon shows it is connected but there is an “X” below it indicating that it has no internet access. Sure enough, when I try to get to a website, no access. If I enter a static IP address, it zips right to the internet with no issues. I might add that I even used the same IP address that the dhcp server assigned when I entered it statically and it worked.

And, thanks to the school district, the solution:

It turns out it was a DNS issue. I have several DNS IP addresses I use. It’s a long story as to why but they are all necessary. Apparently Kindles and I’m sure a lot of other devices only accept one or two DNS IPs when set to DHCP. I’m basing that on the fact that if I enter the info statically, there are only boxes for two DNS settings. The DNS setting I was using when I set it up statically was actually 3^rd on the DNS list at the DHCP server. When I moved the DNS that worked statically up to 1^st on the list, everything started working as it should.

You can read the complete resolution of the issue--and the endorsement of the school district tech director who had to solve this--online at #BYOD Issues with @Amazon #Kindle #Fire.

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Sucker's Choices - How Tech Can Succeed in Schools

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:04:00 +0000

In reading the slide below, I ran across a list for Why Technology is Failing. In particular, this slide caught my eye:

For fun, I decided to flip it around to positive:

Accountability for technology-curriculum integration
Attention to results that
Trust between Curriculum-Technology Departments rather than opposition.
Active communication and collaboration between Curriculum and Technology Departments.
Re-inventing the wheel as needed to further individual learning and making other's work one's own, but relying on a global network of learners and educators to share what works and emulating that.
Hmm...

One of my favorite books--and audio series--is the Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations series. It goes after the tough conversations--and provides the necessary tools--that involve dealing with #3 and #4 in the list above.

Doug Johnson, as I cited in Spectrum Unbound, asks a few tough questions:

Who limits the spectrum of discussion in your school? Do districts and buildings keep some issues off the table? Why? And are there ways to allow such conversations that skirt the traditional conversational gate-keepers?Hmmmmmmm.Are you being kept "passive and obedient" by not addressing the bigger issues of educational policy? What are they? How is it done? How do you fight it?

Crucial Conversations is neat because throughout the audio series, they suggest one refuse "The Sucker's Choice." Here's a description of the main teachings around refusing the sucker's choice via Sources of Insight:

Don’t fall prey to a Sucker’s Choice. A Sucker’s Choice is a this or a that, an either / or … etc. The assumption is that you have to trade one thing for another.
Find an “and” solution over “either / or“. Find a way to have it both ways. Challenge yourself to seek the higher ground.
Know what you want and what you don’t want. Stating what you want and don’t want are powerful because they clarify your intentions. Clarifying what you don’t want can be particularly powerful because of the principle of contrast. It can can also help take away perceived threats. Clarifying intentions is an important step because it’s easy to get lost in the content and lose sight of the real intentions. Your intentions guide you through your dialogue.

Harmony and Results. Quality and Relationship.

Identifying what you really want, what you don't want, then figuring out how to get there. It's a great approach. Every day, I listen to the news and hear about sucker's choices. Of course, none come to mind at this very moment.

What are the Sucker's Choices in EdTech implementation? Let me take a stab...can you add more?

We'll either use iPads or nothing at all.
We'll integrate technology into all our content areas or not at all.
We'll either do implement BYOD in all our schools simultaneously or ban it.

Ok, maybe I'm just tired, but those are lousy. Help?

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Inserting YouTube Clips in #iBooks

noreply@blogger.com (Miguel Guhlin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:03:00 +0000

Fascinating...how do you insert YouTube video clips in iBooks?

Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3675922?start=0&tstart=0

1) open dashcode and select "custom"
2) under test and share select 10.4.0 backward-compatibility (under options)
3) name the widget Youtube embed
4) click "save to disk"
5) save the widget to your desktop
6) right click on your widget and select show package contents
7) open main.html with your text editor and replace all the html code in main.html with:

YouTube Video Embed Beta
http://www.youtube.com/embed/6NFrHD4-wY0</a><span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-collapse: collapse; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">" frameborder="0"><br></span>

save the file and close the widget folder - drag and drop into your iBooks HTML container, enjoy ;3

I have HTML5 CSS3 Canvas Javascript animations, complex calc javascript and a whole host of other things using this simple process of modifying a widgets base files. Its really pretty slick.

Note: you can set the width/height in the info.hlist file/

Enjoy!

via hbattousai

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