Math, technology, education, and beyond

…buy into the whole idea of using technology in the classroom.  I came back from Christmas vacation, and I haven’t had a moment to catch up on old work.  I have a desk and cabinet-top (and part of the floor) full of work that I have no idea when I’ll get it done, and that’s ok.  If it’s not already been completed, it can’t possibly be THAT important, right?  It is so great to see these teachers taking these risks to use this new technology and new ideas in their classroom.

…buy into the whole idea of using technology as an educational tool, and not just as a way to socialize and be entertained.  Today’s high school students know a lot about technology, but mainly when used to socialize (Facebook, MySpace, IM, etc.) and for entertainment (games, music, movies, etc.).  That’s all well and good that they’re using the technology for a purpose.  What has me worried is what I saw when I visited my sister and saw how my 7 year old neighbor was surfing the internet.  He wasn’t playing games.  He wasn’t talking with his friends.  He was learning.  He was using this tool to expand his knowledge of the universe, and he was doing it unsupervised.  In other words, he is expanding his knowledge on his own.

This should scare today’s high school students.  My nephew is 10 years younger than them, but he’s using technology in a way that my high school students do not.   What’s going to happen when my nephew’s peer group enters the work force?  They will be more focused on using the technology in a productive way, and business leaders will see this.  And they will replace their workers who have been there for ten years whose productivity isn’t what it should be.  And these younger people will have no problem with forcing those others out.

That puts this current high school group in a precarious position.  They NEED to learn how to use the technology in a productive manner.  They NEED to learn how to work with others and to try new things and to take risks.  They NEED to be challenged in and out of the classroom.  They NEED to demand that technology become part of their education, because if they don’t do these things, they will be left behind.

It’s kind of scary to think that for the most part, this current crop of high school students is not ready to use this technology.  Many of us view them as “digital natives,” where they have had this technology in front of them their whole lives, and they have.  However, the digital culture and digital climate have changed, so they are no longer in their native world.  It’s now time for them to evolve and adapt, and we as educators NEED to make sure we are helping them to realize and accomplish this.

Below is an email that I have sent to my teachers and a few colleagues that I find very helpful when trying to help others understand their role with integrating technology.

I ran into this quote today in my research reading.  For those of you who don’t know, Karl Fisch is a leading expert in technology integration.  He interacts with educators around the world on how to include technology into education and what it actually means to today’s world.  His blog is widely read, and he has created videos and posts to help others understand the role of technology in today’s world.  I offer you this quote from him to help you release any pressure you may feel about technology and education.  We’re not trying to force technology into a lesson.  We want to do what’s best to make sure we get a lesson to be the best it can for our students.

“It [isn't] about the laptops. You should use them when you think they are appropriate and can enhance and extend your students’ learning. And you should leave them shut away in their comfy carts when they don’t….Please, release the pressure – we are certainly not intending to place it upon you. Do what’s best for your students – every day.” – Karl Fisch

The director of the office of educational technology for the US Department of Education Tim Magner recently released a list of books that should be read to help discuss how technology and education go hand in hand.   The list was published by the Wall Street Journal, and it’s a pretty good list.  From Will Richardson to David Warlick to Marc Prensky,  this list is definitely a good one.

However, it is somewhat disheartening that we only have a book list.   Aren’t we talking about educational technology?  Why can we not have a blog list as well?  True, there is a lot of great information out there in books (By the way, I think Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind should also be on this list), but where is the discussion held?  True, there are times where many of us will get together, be it PETE&C, NECC, or CFF Coach Boot Camp.  We have had many great discussions at these and learned many new things.  But this discussion is ongoing.  I can read Will Richardson’s blog, post a comment on it, and get a response from someone in Oregon.  Now, a new conversation has opened up.  I can see how someone does something in Oregon, and they can see how I do something in Pennsylvania.

Does this discussion occur after reading a book?  Well, there can be some discussion.  First, I must find another person who has read the same book.  Then, we have to find a time to hold the discussion.  With commenting on blogs, I can have the conversation at my discretion.

In the end, I have to sit back and reflect on this link that was sent to me by my colleague Jim Gates.  If the top dog in the Department of Education for the US is recommending a list of books, they have to be pretty good, and they are.  But why are we only seeing a list of books and a few links to  websites that most technology integrators have already seen?  Why are these links restricted to those that aim toward elementary students?  How far behind are we still?  We’re in the 21st Century, and we’re still trying to catch up to the 21st Century Skills that are needed yesterday.

I think slideShare is going to be my new favorite toy.  I love that I can have students go back and review the notes by going online.  It’s not really any extra work for me, as I only have to convert my Keynotes to .pdf’s and then upload!

[slideshare id=143268&doc=section-27-1193154269386898-1&w=425]

Today, many area schools have gotten together to obtain training on Polyvision whiteboards as well as to begin collaboration between CFF schools. We are meeting at Warwick High School in Lititz, PA. Thanks to Jeff and Fred for hosting!

As we are going through the Polyvision training, we are seeing many great things! One thing that is discouraging is that we are going through a lot really quick, so we don’t get a chance to really sit back and figure out how we might be able to use this. However, our trainer is willing to arrange a time to present a webinar for us, and she also offers other services as a virtual mentor, such as researching virtual labs, manipulatives, games, and activities, provide basic tech support, and help with lesson plans. She has mentioned that she does not get many emails asking for help, but I imagine that the CFF coaches and teachers may actually start sending some info.

I know there is a lot I will be able to do, I just wish there was a way that I could do more hands-on right now.

Time for a short break, so I will return…

We’re back from break and now we’re looking at Easiteach, which we can put on each teacher’s computer who has a Polyvision board.  One thing that I know I need to do when I return to school is to look at working and learning more about both Webster and Easiteach.  This means I have a bit of reading and playing to do, which will be taking up a lot of my time over the next week or so.  We might even want to take advantage of Carissa saying she is available for webinars, which could be helpful.

We have gotten to a point where we have slowed down now, and we all seem to do be doing much better with obtaining this information.  I wish we would have gotten this information when we obtained the whiteboards.  It is unfortunate that, at least in our situation, we were learning a lot of this on our own on the fly.  I had no training on the whiteboards other than walking into our new building with our tech director, plugging it in, and going from there.

This is interesting being on this end of a training.  Carissa is up in front of us going through everything like it is second nature to her, as I imagine it is.  While she is doing that, many of us are working with the programs for the first time, or we have very limited experience with it.  Is this how it is for some of our teachers as we offer professional development?  I think sitting through sessions like this offers insights other than just the training itself.  I have now realized that I need to make sure that, just because it comes naturally to me, it might take time for others.  I think I’ve said that before.

It sure has been some time since I have added to this blog. There were many things going on that have been taking up my time, and I hadn’t had this as a priority. I hope I can change that, as things should settle down a little more after the next two days, which are our last two days of Apple training. The biggest hurdle with this training is that I am still a half-day teacher, as well, so I lose time in the classroom with my students, and it is difficult to get a substitute in who can also teach the math. As a matter of fact, I had one in on Friday, and she was to cover how to apply length, area, and volume in real-world situations. She left me a note that she hasn’t seen the info since she was in Geometry…in 1965! So when I am out of the classroom, I often have to spend a day to catch the students up on the info they were supposed to have learned.

But such is life, and here I am again now. I have a list a mile long of sites I need to check out, along with being enrolled in two graduate courses over the summer (Flash and Management of Change in Instructional Technology) through Philadelphia University. It’s a great Master’s program in Instructional Technology. And I am attending NECC in Atlanta this summer, as well as doing trainings here at school, working a second job, hopefully visiting my sister in California, working on new curriculum for my courses I am teaching next year (redoing what I’ve taught in Math for Standards and working on materials for FST), moving, and who knows what else.

But I hope to continue looking at these various websites and continue doing research into what new ideas are rolling out in the EdTech world. I want to be able to continue coming up with new ideas that teachers in my school can use (including myself).

So we will see where things go from here for me as we approach the end of a school year.

It is now our 12th day in our new building, and people are definitely settling in. Our CFF teachers are working on creating and implementing materials for use in class. Unfortunately, we still do not have all of our equipment, although there are a few people still waiting for DVD/VCR combos (the last of which are being installed today) and dongles. There are also pieces of software that we would like, but you can’t have everything. Hopefully we can get the software in the budget for next year.

We had our out of the box training from Apple last week (I’m still trying to catch up from when I was “out” for that and the CFF Coaches training from Apple), and it was quite well received. It was nice to be able to get all of our CFF teachers together to talk about what we are now able to do as well as to have time to play/work with the software and create materials for our classes. I know that my students have been enjoying the fact that notes are presented in a very different way than what I used to do, and that’s just th beginning. I am also working on incorporating blogs and wikis into my lessons, although I am still trying to work on a good way to do that. Part of it will be just trying different things out and seeing what works and what doesn’t. The more risks that I am willing to take in class with the lessons, the more risks the students will take with creating quality projects…at least that’s my hope.

I created a podcast (newly updated audio) as practice in the CFF Coaches training. It seemed to impress many of the other coaches that were there as they saw it as a way that their math teachers could incorporate more technology into their curriculum. I saw it as just another way to make sure students get the information they need. I guess I’m still at the point where I don’t completely see this as ground-breaking stuff, but then again, I’ve worked with computers and technology for as long as I can remember. It’s amazing to see the differing views on technology, between those that are used to having it and those that are still learning it.

If you want the podcast, leave me a comment with an email I can send it to. I’m also hoping to get a blog page set up in the near future.

Okay, they’re not really toys, but I get the same excitement…

What am I talking about? Today, I went into our new school building (dedication this Sunday at 2 PM, open for classes April 16) to get trained on using our new interactive whiteboards. While setting up, my tech director and I both learned some new things about them. But the best part was just getting the walk-and-talk remote in my hand and learning it. I glanced at the manual, but what I really wanted to do was just play (and by play, I mean learn it by trying it out). I was so excited about using it. I will be running a demo of the whiteboard (and overall CFF classroom) on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see the reactions of the community and students who attend. I know I am totally enthusiastic about the new education….I hope it rubs off on others.

Will Richardson brings up some amazing points in his blog entry The Privacy Gap.

I have an interesting stance myself, as I am in the buffer area between those who view privacy in the old way and those bringing about this new view of privacy. When xanga was big, I created one and found the kids. It was a bit of a lesson on privacy, as some of them came up to me and said, “I don’t want you to know that certain thing about me.” I told them, “If you don’t want me to know it, don’t put in on there. And if I can access it, then who else can?” It is true that kids view privacy a bit differently than it used to be viewed, but there are still lessons to be learned here.

Luckily, many of these kids are savvy enough to learn a quick lesson. The idea is not to restrict the access they have to information that is out there or to keep them from connecting at all, as some parents do. It’s amazing when I told some parents about my AIM screenname so kids could contact me when I was at home and they said they do not allow their kids to have AIM. This was a college professor! He thought he was protecting his kids. Yet they had xanga pages, with personal information written in the blogs for everyone to see! At least with AIM they could pick and choose who to speak with.

This is a fight that we will have to take up with parents first. We need to get parents to stress the correct way to share and access information on today’s world wide web and trust that the kids will do it correctly.

I have grown to become quite attached to the math site purplemath.com. There are many great modules on here that give great tips on how to solve many different concepts in math, as well as giving different ways of solving than what you would see normally in many math classes. I have been sharing this site with the math teachers and special ed teachers in my district, and even shared with a few students and parents already, as well. I hope to have a site up soon that has a collection of these links for all to access. When that’s up, I’ll be sure to share the url.