Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA)  just released a paper analyzing states' policies in regards to digital materials acquisitions & implementations, along with their recommendations. You can find the report & summary here In the report, they outline Next Steps: a) Essential Conditions for successful acquisition & implementation; b) suggestions for making the procurement process transparent and easy to navigate; c) the need for strategic short & long-term budgeting; and d) and suggestions for the states to guide schools & districts on best practices for adoption, implementation and vetting of digital resources. You can read the more detailed descriptions of these four "Next Steps" recommended by SETDA here . While reading the report and the next steps suggestions, it reminded me of my own research about technology acquisition and implementation. I have done several blog posts directly related to technology implementation ...

I am preparing for my final face-to-face meeting with the two cohorts of middle and high school math teachers I have been working with the past 6 months.  We will still have one more online component, which ends in June. I am a little sad about the fact that our journey is coming to an end, as it has been one of my most rewarding professional development experiences, in large part because I was able to really get to know these teachers both personally and professionally and actually see the progression of change and confidence as they learned and integrated Sketchpad into their mathematics instruction. A quick recap of the five previous face-to-face lessons, or focus you might say: Lesson One: Begin professional development experiences assessing background skills of participants. Lesson Two:  Work on building a sense of community and support among participants, where they feel comfortable sharing their struggles, their experiences, their ideas and expertise. ...

I am in the third online unit of my hybrid/blended PD so wanted to give some feedback and updates on how things are going online.  For those of you who have been following my hybrid/blended professional development series on integrating technology into math instruction (see a listing of all posts in the series at the bottom of this blog), you will remember that we just finished our third face-to-face meeting a couple weeks ago. My focus for this third unit (both f2f & online) is relevancy: Lesson Three: Make the activities and learning relevant to the teachers every-day teaching practice. By providing activities that focus on learning the skills, how to integrate technology appropriately, and also cohere to the specific content and curriculum the teachers must follow, it is more likely that they will begin to change their own practice. If they can see the relevancy to their own daily experience, they are going to be more willing to implement new tools and strategies....

UPDATE T O POST 2/19/12:  Michael O'hara's talk can be viewed at http://bit.ly/w7nQcS or via iTunes http://bit.ly/LWFiTunes    Thanks Graham Brown-Martin for the updated links!) It's been a few weeks since I attended the Learning Without Frontiers conference in Olympia, UK.  I wrote a previous reflection piece on Noam Chomsky' s talk right after I returned.  I was revisiting my notes on other speakers and re-watching some of the talks at the LWF website trying to come up with my blog post for the day.  In my notes, the one that stuck out as relevant to me this week was Michael O'hara's talk about the mobile industry and education called " Learning While Mobile ".  Imagine my disappointment when I went to re-watch the talk to find that it had been blocked due to potential copyright issues, apparently because of some materials mentioned in his talk.  Sigh. I have decided to still focus on O'hara's talk, even though I can't share the vi...

I saw this video clip the other day from Conan O'brien's Late Night talk show who was talking with comedian Louis C.K.  It's hilarious - all about how we are so use to all the technology around us that we have become complacent and unappreciative of the wonder that is technology.   I will admit, I myself complain sometimes and wanted to take a moment to sit back and appreciate the amazing technology that makes my life better.  Here is a short list - my complaints and my thank yous. 1) Complaint: The never-ending emails, Skype/Adobe Connect/GoToMeetings online meetings that mean I work 10 hours or more some days and often on weekends. Why won't these people leave me alone?! Why I am thankful : Because of these technologies, I have the benefit of working from home and can be with my family when not traveling, I can work odd hours.  I have the flexibility to fit work into my schedule and to work for a company I love and with people all around the country re...

I am deep in burn-out mode right now.  Work, travel, write - a never ending cycle.  I am feeling a little stressed and some serious writers block, so naturally it makes complete sense to write my blog! Anyway, the writing I am doing (Ch. 2 of my dissertation proposal, so the literature review) has me reading lots of research and such on professional development and tech integration, and I have just refreshed my memory on the NETS (National Education Technology Standards, 2008) .  With so much press about technology and education, things such as iPads in the classroom, one-to-one initiatives and online courses, technology standards are something I think should be revisited by school districts and teachers, especially before making any decisions about what technologies to purchase/use in classrooms.  The hype around how technology can save education and what are the latest and greatest apps and technology gadgets I think blind us to what the purpose of education tech...

In my quest to be more of a professional, social presence, I have been participating in more online community discussions. I am involved in one now where the topic is on getting technology to actually be used in the classroom. It's a great conversation, but what strikes me is that all the participants know what should be done, and yet realize its not being done. It's the same situation that has been ongoing for decades...every time "technology" is deemed to be the miracles that will save education (think radio, tv). So...if we know what will help really get technology integrated in a way that will truly help students learn achieve (think TPACK), what needs to change to really make it succeed and not repeat history? I am on a quest to figure that out....any suggestions along the way will be greatly appreciated. I know fundamentally changing how we structure learning is key.

I was in a meeting yesterday where one person mentioned that his daughter was so amazed that there was no internet when he was growing up. He talked about how she has so much technology - iPad, iPad touch, computer, and yet when she went to school, she wasn't allowed to use any of it. And that he had to buy an outdated graphing calculator for school since she wasn't allowed to use the tool she normally used, the iPad. In response to that remark, there was another person in the meeting who responded that her children were not allowed any technology, especially calculators, at home. Things should be done by hand, especially math. No calculators. It just struck me as odd - such diverse perspectives about technology (in a technology meeting mind you) and about what should or should not be allowed for students in schools and at home. My view is that we do a disservice to our students/children to not provide them with tools that could enhance their learning. I don't think...

Well, as I mentioned previously I was going to Atlantic City for the NCTM Regional math conference.  Today was the first day at the booth, and it was a very busy day - lots of teachers stopping by to check out the new booth and play with Sketchpad, TinkerPlots and Fathom .  I spent the whole day talking to so many different folks - teachers, administrators, students, and it was so fun to see them trying out the software, or help them find some resources to support their own learning of the software or find an upcoming lesson to use. I think the overall message I got out of today is that the technology is being used, but teachers really want and need curriculum and support/resources they can use right away because they don't have the time to search or create on their own.  I think it's one of the strongest components of what Key's software offers - (shameless plug, but hey - I am at a math conference!) - we have great software but more importantly we don't leave teach...

As I posted previously , if you are trying to integrate new technology into teacher practice, a one-stop workshop is not going to be the best solution.  Long-term training and support is what is needed to help teachers learn, try and slowly begin the hard process of integrating technology effectively and making long-term change in instructional practice. What do you do then when a one-stop, 2 hour workshop is all you have? This is the predicament I find myself in - preparing for a 2-hour Sketchpad workshop. The reality is, one-stop workshops are still the norm because of costs and time mostly. I am not stupid enough to think after 2 hours I am going to convince all my participants that they should use Sketchpad in their math classrooms, nor am I idealistic enough to think that they will even try to implement things. My goal is to spur some excitement and provide the tools where they can try and get support. If you only have a couple of hours, then you want to inspire, re...

In my post yesterday, I brought up the idea that education technology is assumed to be the solution to all the problems facing education today, when in reality, they should be viewed as tools.  And these tools need to be researched and evaluated carefully to make sure they fit in to the social and political structure of the learning environment and to make sure they will really do what is needed - improve teaching and learning. But how do you know?  If we are to believe advertisements, it's no wonder so much technology is purchased for schools.  What I want to caution is that company's are trying to sell you the idea - make sure you research, analyze, evaluate and try new technology out to see if it fits and if it does what's promised, or else it's going to sit on a shelf gathering dust or worse, change nothing, or worse, hinder teaching and learning. I thought it would be fun to share some of the advertisements I saw this morning in my daily reading of educational ...

Jack Schneider's article Questioning Our Mania For Education Technology   reemphasized what I have been reading in my doctorate course the last couple of weeks regarding the assumption by many that education technology is going to solve all the problems of education and help all students succeed. I have been immersed in Neil Selwyn's book, Education and Technology: Key Issues and Debates , where, he goes into much more detail on the points Jack Schneider brings up - that basically a lot of investment in money and time are put into getting technology into schools in order to improve education, but that it doesn't work.  A lot of assumptions are made, but buying the latest and greatest technology tools doesn't mean the underlying problems of education are going to be solved. Neither Selwyn nor Schneider are saying we shouldn't be investing in technology.  The underlying message in Selwyn is that educational technology is going to to impact teaching, teachers, schoo...

Not a surprise, but there is a lot of great technology out there in schools that is not being used. Whiteboards gathering dust, calculators never coming out of the closet...I am sure those of you in schools right now can site a hundred examples of great technology that should be in the hands of students that is just sitting somewhere gathering dust. Why? I know from personal experience as a teacher, and now, as someone who travels around and works with teachers, often times, there is technology that has been bought that many teachers don't even know the school has. Can't tell you how many times I have been to a school to train on Sketchpad to find it's been in the building on the computers for years and no one knew about it. How does that happen? Often times it was a case of money had to be spent quickly, so administrators or coordinators buy something they think sounds like good technology, but then no real training or information is sent out. Or...the person who spea...

Here I go again - reading articles.  This one struck me as it is totally what I am a firm believer in - online learning for adults, which includes online degrees and professional development courses. The article, Technology's Continuing Struggle to Disrupt Higher Education , basically says that online learning has the great potential of providing higher education degrees to more students, but these degrees do not earn the respect they deserve. Because "consumers of higher education use prestige as the signal of higher quality because commonly accepted measures of actual student learning do not exist" online learning is not considered as prestigious or worthy as learning from a 'brick and morter' institution. I completely agree that this IS the stigma that online institutions suffer.  Unfairly so I think.  Hopefully this will change.  Online learning is the wave of the future and, as someone who would not be finishing my doctorate degree from a 'brick and mor...

I have been embedded in my research reviews all weekend, so I apologize now for the focus of this post...research.  But, I will say, I am feeling better about the direction I plan to head in for my dissertation - that of determining what and how teachers are actually using technology in the classroom.  Especially after I just read this article: On Ed Tech, We're Asking the Wrong Question   by Dennis Pierce .  Basically, he reemphasizes what I have been finding - that we need to ask 1) what are the conditions that make ed-technology effective learning tools and 2) why are schools that have adopted/invested in ed-technology not showing success?  It's definitely related to how the tools are being implemented. What are the instructional decisions being made around technology use in the classroom and are these decisions really the best use of the technology if the goal is to improve student achievement? Just my thoughts for the day on this late Sunday af...

It's early here in CA and I can't sleep, so doing my morning education reading.  Found this live feed link to a very interesting panel discussion/conference going on right now.  The topic is technology in education .  I am providing the link, though it may not be live if you click on it - think it has a couple more hours today. Anyway, first time I have attended a 'live stream' conference and it is a pretty interesting experience. Different than a webinar.  I rather like it and might have to search out more or consider attending conferences I can't get to in person this way.

I read to interesting postings this morning - one discussing the possible limiting of students 'freedom of speech rights' when using social media and the other giving 20 tips on how to modeling appropriate technology usage in the classroom for students.  The first article by Neil UngerLeider entitled Teens and Their Teachers at Odds Over Social Media, First Amendment Rights talks about the possibility of government control of students social media postings.  The second, a blog posting by Heather Wolport-Gawron entitled Twenty Ways to Model Technology Use for Students suggests different ways teachers can model appropriate use of technology in their every day classroom practice. At first glance, seemingly unrelated yet, perhaps Wolport-Gawron is on to something here.  If we, as parents and instructional leaders model appropriate use of technology, INCLUDING social media, then perhaps the seemingly inappropriate comments and use of social media by students might become...

I am reading Education and Technology by Neil Selwyn (International Publishing Group, 2011) for my doctoral research seminar class.  It's an interesting critical look at the role of technology in education.  While I am only on Chapter 4 at this point, it has raised some questions in my mind that I just wanted to throw out there to hopefully hear some others points of view.  I myself am still not quite sure of my own answers to these questions, which is part of this whole journey I am on with my doctoral research and my work with teachers. Here are just a few questions: 1) Does technology improve education?  I think before reading this, I would have said unequivocally yes, however, now, I am not sure - I think it depends is a better answer, and I think it depends on who and how . 2) Are we doomed to repeat the pattern of technology integration in education (think radio, tv, computers, etc.) i.e. - great expectations yet little, if any, real impact? How do we ...

This article I read this morning by Audrey Watters titled " Is Math Education Too Abstract " hit home for me.  Yes...I think math education is too abstract.  I taught math at both middle and high school for over 17 years, and the majority of that time, with struggling students.  I have to admit, I couldn't see the point of teaching how to solve a quadratic equation to a senior in Algebra for the third time who's future plan was to work in his dad's auto shop. What this boy needed was to have math that was relevant - like how to balance a check book, determine what sale price really gives the best deal, or how to make investments - things he was going to actually do in his future.  With this age of testing and the push for 'algebra for all students', I think we have lost sight that not all students need it. I am NOT saying we shouldn't be aiming high and encouraging students to excel in mathematics, but what I think we should stop doing is forcing all...