Okay, its week 4 now and I feel as though I have the "hang" of things with Blogging. I realize that Blogging isn’t just what you say but HOW you say it. Therefore, I have incorporated colors as a way to augment or enhance certain emotion and data (surrounding the emotion).
My intent is to give the reader what they need in a time that is convenient for them WITHOUT sacrificing the message or strength of message.
If anyone is willing to comment on my use of color in font or the color scheme in general I would be rather grateful....
LANCE-SANITY reigns...........
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Computer SCIENCE needs OUR help!
My reading requirement this week took me to the article, "Computer Science Education Looking Back and Looking Ahead" by Chris Stephenson. In this Article Mr. Stephenson discusses many topics (in my opinion too much for the short length of the article) that include but are not limited to; Gender in Computer Science, Curriculum of Computer Science (hence forth C.S.), Origins of C.S., Teacher's Education in C.S. etc...It’s actually a little crowded in the article to really focus on one particular topic.
Now, having a Information Technology background and as recently as last semester enjoyed a JAVA programming course, I fully appreciated the data Mr. Stephenson provides in this article. However, if C.S. is not your first second third or fifteenth love, you may find this article a little drab. "Chris" even states a certain "drab doom and gloom" in the piece.
As a teacher I imagine that being able to articulate where a student can go in the industry can be quite beneficial to your education philosophy as well as your lesson planning. However, if you are not the most savvy of computer literate teachers this article may not be of grand interest to you. For the sake of Social Justice you may want to read about the current Gendering of C.S. to promote such opportunity to young ladies who have at the minimum an interest in C.S.
If you are to be entrusted with teaching a C.S. curriculum please read this article as it provides teachers with an almost "WARNING" of what's ahead of you in the realms of C.S. You will have to compete with a lack of resources such as hardware & software. You will have to foster an understanding of requirements for the administration as well as general education requirements versus Advanced Placement (AP) requirements. And you will have to compensate (somehow) for a lack of teacher development programs specific to C.S.
In summary, consider reading this article if you are looking to browse the possibility of a C.S. curriculum in your future or if you have students that aspire to go forth in the C.S. field. Take the article's gems of data and apply them accordingly; origination of programming and gender as a divisor in the field. In my opinion you can relate these two topics at the minimum to ANY curriculum you plan to implement.
This PSA has been brought to you by...."LANCE-TACULAR...dontcha just wanna TEACH EVERYONE" and "TEACH!!!!! Because we NEED YOU TO..."
Stephenson, C. (2002). Computer Science Education Looking Back Looking Ahead. Learning and Leading with Technology , 30 (2), 6-9, 44-45. ISTE: EUGENE, OR.
Now, having a Information Technology background and as recently as last semester enjoyed a JAVA programming course, I fully appreciated the data Mr. Stephenson provides in this article. However, if C.S. is not your first second third or fifteenth love, you may find this article a little drab. "Chris" even states a certain "drab doom and gloom" in the piece.
As a teacher I imagine that being able to articulate where a student can go in the industry can be quite beneficial to your education philosophy as well as your lesson planning. However, if you are not the most savvy of computer literate teachers this article may not be of grand interest to you. For the sake of Social Justice you may want to read about the current Gendering of C.S. to promote such opportunity to young ladies who have at the minimum an interest in C.S.
If you are to be entrusted with teaching a C.S. curriculum please read this article as it provides teachers with an almost "WARNING" of what's ahead of you in the realms of C.S. You will have to compete with a lack of resources such as hardware & software. You will have to foster an understanding of requirements for the administration as well as general education requirements versus Advanced Placement (AP) requirements. And you will have to compensate (somehow) for a lack of teacher development programs specific to C.S.
In summary, consider reading this article if you are looking to browse the possibility of a C.S. curriculum in your future or if you have students that aspire to go forth in the C.S. field. Take the article's gems of data and apply them accordingly; origination of programming and gender as a divisor in the field. In my opinion you can relate these two topics at the minimum to ANY curriculum you plan to implement.
This PSA has been brought to you by...."LANCE-TACULAR...dontcha just wanna TEACH EVERYONE" and "TEACH!!!!! Because we NEED YOU TO..."
Stephenson, C. (2002). Computer Science Education Looking Back Looking Ahead. Learning and Leading with Technology , 30 (2), 6-9, 44-45. ISTE: EUGENE, OR.
Monday, February 21, 2011
VIRTUAL FIELD TRiP (VTF)- CiRCA ROBOCOP 1987!
VTFs are here and you EDUCATORs need to take advantage of them!
First Question...What is a VTF??
Answer: VTF stands for VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP. VTF (interactive synchronous & asynchronous) is a tool (usually website) that utilizes text, audio or video resources to provide information about a specific topic.
Asynchronous VTF is similar to the tours you may see online when shopping for a home. You can walk into the house and pan X amount of degrees while you hear an audio narration of the particulars of the home.
The interactive synchronous VTF provides real time interaction with an expert or specialist on a particular topic of interest. Two way communications is the intent of such an apparatus. An example of this would be the cool CISCO commercials with the kids video conferencing from half way around the world some expert in his or her field.
Second Question....Why should I be interested in VTFs??
Answer: Virtual Field Trips are a pretty good idea when you consider some of the challenges we educators face now-a-days. The $$$ needed to sustain transportation prevent many students from visiting museums, parks and observatories. Many of these entities have the capacity to provide VTFs so why not engage them? Ultimately you are extending an opportunity to a student that has been compromised by budgets and distances beyond the capacity of your district or school board.
Third Question....Okay, I’m interested but how do I do this?
Answer: You will need some hardware and Bandwidth to support VTFs. These items may already be installed at your school site as many schools have adopted a standard that requires some type of long distance education. Speak with your IT dept to ascertain your capacities.
You are limited only by your imagination! Imagine being able to bring the museum or expert to your classroom for a question and answer session....No wait! You don’t have to imagine anything. YOU CAN BRING THEM TO YOUR CLASS VIA VTFs!!! Now, Go and do great things SUPER-DOOPER, TECHNICALLY SAVVY TEACHER!!
Zanetis, J. (2010, March/April). The beginner's guide to interactive virtual field trips. Learning and Leading with Technology, 10-23. ISTE: Eugene, OR.
First Question...What is a VTF??
Answer: VTF stands for VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP. VTF (interactive synchronous & asynchronous) is a tool (usually website) that utilizes text, audio or video resources to provide information about a specific topic.
Asynchronous VTF is similar to the tours you may see online when shopping for a home. You can walk into the house and pan X amount of degrees while you hear an audio narration of the particulars of the home.
The interactive synchronous VTF provides real time interaction with an expert or specialist on a particular topic of interest. Two way communications is the intent of such an apparatus. An example of this would be the cool CISCO commercials with the kids video conferencing from half way around the world some expert in his or her field.
Second Question....Why should I be interested in VTFs??
Answer: Virtual Field Trips are a pretty good idea when you consider some of the challenges we educators face now-a-days. The $$$ needed to sustain transportation prevent many students from visiting museums, parks and observatories. Many of these entities have the capacity to provide VTFs so why not engage them? Ultimately you are extending an opportunity to a student that has been compromised by budgets and distances beyond the capacity of your district or school board.
Third Question....Okay, I’m interested but how do I do this?
Answer: You will need some hardware and Bandwidth to support VTFs. These items may already be installed at your school site as many schools have adopted a standard that requires some type of long distance education. Speak with your IT dept to ascertain your capacities.
You are limited only by your imagination! Imagine being able to bring the museum or expert to your classroom for a question and answer session....No wait! You don’t have to imagine anything. YOU CAN BRING THEM TO YOUR CLASS VIA VTFs!!! Now, Go and do great things SUPER-DOOPER, TECHNICALLY SAVVY TEACHER!!
Zanetis, J. (2010, March/April). The beginner's guide to interactive virtual field trips. Learning and Leading with Technology, 10-23. ISTE: Eugene, OR.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Power = Peril 3.0 you have been warned educator!
Jason Ohler must be a fan of 2001 a space odyssey. I say this because I was put into such a frame of mind when I read his article "The Power and Peril of Web 3.0; Its more than just Semantics." I felt like at any moment HAL 9000 was going to ask me "what I was doing." This may be an acute sense of awareness aka paranoia but I believe this coincides with what Ohler discusses. The use of intelligent tagging for the purposes of quicker access to the infinite amount of data out there will cross the borders of personal and private. The concepts of intelligent & group tagging are pure genius but, I am a bit disturbed at the audacity of such networking. Not because it has been brought forth but because I know its already here. Privacy is a very sacred thing for me. I do not want to consider the indexes and indexes of products that are sent my way because they meet a certain set of criteria or match via intelligent tagging.
When we contemplate education and its processes the tagging insures that we have a considerable amount of information at our disposal. Of course the information and its retrieval will be the subject of inquiry. Will this be a super search engine that is "funded" by products much like the monster Google is today? Will the first 10,000 hits received be because of some type of monetary transaction behind the scenes? What kind of censorship and or standards will be available to children through such a medium? Who will determine the standards? Will they be specific to the US or will there be an international body governing this effort? I want my PLN (Personal Learning Network)!! As Dire Straits plays in the background)
The Personal Learning Network that Ohler discusses is a true treasure trove of opportunity for the learner. I can only imagine being able to receive not merely hits but pod casts, video feeds, charts & graphs or the latest headline news about subject "X." As a future educator i would salivate at giving my students keys to such a vehicle. But until we see some standardization, and some type of hierarchy of information dominance (presumably by educators) i shudder to consider such wide open access to my students. Ultimately it comes down to a question we are still asking even without the net, who determines what is valuable data or knowledge?
As an educator I would like to believe that I have a say in such an inquiry, but with Web 3.0 on its way there is no guarantee that this will be the case! After reading this article i know that i need to be an active member in technology and how it will be applied in the name of the student. Even if the effort is outside of my classroom, my attention is STILL required. I suggest to all my fellow educators to not watch this happen but to make Web 3.0 happen (for the student).
Ohler, J. (2010). The Power and Peril of Web 3.0 its more than just Semantics. Learning and Leading with Technology , 15-17.
When we contemplate education and its processes the tagging insures that we have a considerable amount of information at our disposal. Of course the information and its retrieval will be the subject of inquiry. Will this be a super search engine that is "funded" by products much like the monster Google is today? Will the first 10,000 hits received be because of some type of monetary transaction behind the scenes? What kind of censorship and or standards will be available to children through such a medium? Who will determine the standards? Will they be specific to the US or will there be an international body governing this effort? I want my PLN (Personal Learning Network)!! As Dire Straits plays in the background)
The Personal Learning Network that Ohler discusses is a true treasure trove of opportunity for the learner. I can only imagine being able to receive not merely hits but pod casts, video feeds, charts & graphs or the latest headline news about subject "X." As a future educator i would salivate at giving my students keys to such a vehicle. But until we see some standardization, and some type of hierarchy of information dominance (presumably by educators) i shudder to consider such wide open access to my students. Ultimately it comes down to a question we are still asking even without the net, who determines what is valuable data or knowledge?
As an educator I would like to believe that I have a say in such an inquiry, but with Web 3.0 on its way there is no guarantee that this will be the case! After reading this article i know that i need to be an active member in technology and how it will be applied in the name of the student. Even if the effort is outside of my classroom, my attention is STILL required. I suggest to all my fellow educators to not watch this happen but to make Web 3.0 happen (for the student).
Ohler, J. (2010). The Power and Peril of Web 3.0 its more than just Semantics. Learning and Leading with Technology , 15-17.
to the CLOUD.......Mr. Johnson says!
Wow, I have to admit I was genuinely impressed with this article. In my field of expertise, security is an absolute REQUIREMENT for any medium used to communicate or exchange ideas on. And because of this small (yes i am being facetious) concern, I have shied away from using the cloud. Doug however has challenged my held paradigm. And because of this I will attempt to migrate some of my work habits to "the silver lining." I can appreciate that Mr. Johnson provided the pros and cons to working within the cloud.
I already mentioned one of the cons (security) but I am also concerned with power and bandwidth issues. Power to the gateway that you are utilizing for Internet access and bandwidth being provided to the school. Bandwidth is not CHEAP especially when you are talking DS3s and not just T1 trunks. Ultimately its a numbers crunch for the bandwidth. This brings a unique twist to things.
Will the school have an on-site staff for IT issues much like you have facilities engineers for the maintenance of the school? Will the parents have to support the notebooks used? Will the child be able to take the notebooks home? The last questions are more policy related but must be addressed especially when you consider that all children don't learn the same.
I think the actions and ideas that Mr. Johnson discussed are quite relevant to everyday classroom use not only for the student and teacher but also the parent. Online grade books and posted rubric can be of great benefit. In fact as a parent to a middle school student, I utilize technology to determine how my child is progressing through her courses. As a teacher this would help me to stay on task as well as find a medium to work with parents in -that isn't subject to a schedule or distance.
Mr. Johnson's overall assessment has me leaning towards the cloud and its many possibly applications in the classroom. Of course this ties in nicely with the ISTE.NETS standards of Digital citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. The children can be engaged early and often on NET protocols, surfing policies and the use of multiple web based applications. And we as a nation will address the needs of the corporate mongers who profess the need for additional education, not to better the world but to pay homage to the almighty god....PROFIT!!
((Sorry, last statement is a little over the top. But i do feel quite passionate about educating for a better world not necessarily a more convenient one))
I already mentioned one of the cons (security) but I am also concerned with power and bandwidth issues. Power to the gateway that you are utilizing for Internet access and bandwidth being provided to the school. Bandwidth is not CHEAP especially when you are talking DS3s and not just T1 trunks. Ultimately its a numbers crunch for the bandwidth. This brings a unique twist to things.
Will the school have an on-site staff for IT issues much like you have facilities engineers for the maintenance of the school? Will the parents have to support the notebooks used? Will the child be able to take the notebooks home? The last questions are more policy related but must be addressed especially when you consider that all children don't learn the same.
I think the actions and ideas that Mr. Johnson discussed are quite relevant to everyday classroom use not only for the student and teacher but also the parent. Online grade books and posted rubric can be of great benefit. In fact as a parent to a middle school student, I utilize technology to determine how my child is progressing through her courses. As a teacher this would help me to stay on task as well as find a medium to work with parents in -that isn't subject to a schedule or distance.
Mr. Johnson's overall assessment has me leaning towards the cloud and its many possibly applications in the classroom. Of course this ties in nicely with the ISTE.NETS standards of Digital citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. The children can be engaged early and often on NET protocols, surfing policies and the use of multiple web based applications. And we as a nation will address the needs of the corporate mongers who profess the need for additional education, not to better the world but to pay homage to the almighty god....PROFIT!!
((Sorry, last statement is a little over the top. But i do feel quite passionate about educating for a better world not necessarily a more convenient one))
Monday, February 7, 2011
blogs, emails, ipods and smart phones...oh my
I have allotted a couple of days for the Speak Up report to digest. To be honest, i needed the extra days. My inital reaction to this was...."AWESOME!!!" I have grown up with technology starting with my first video game of "Pong." I graduated from Pong to the commodore 64 and then the now defunt Atari 2600 (the god father of gaming consoles). I know that technology has played a profound role in my education, indeed my life. So when I read Speak Up, I felt like technology would be an incredible tool to support learning into the 21st century. This was my inital thought process. We live in a consumer driven world where currency is measured by convenience. If its not "Now" its simply not worth it. And considering technology's constant advances the dollars required for said technology become less and less each day. If a child has a cell phone, why not incorporate that into his/her learning experience? My 13 year daughter has a tablet, cell phone, Xbox, casio keyboard and a DVD player. Doesnt everyone have such "simple" mainstream devices??? Well, the answer is No, not everyone has these items. What's worse is that my thought process is now placing a value judgement on those who are left out of social networks because they lack the financial prowess to obtain technology. In a more clandestine example....How many of us had to pay for our own text books in a public school? So why are we asking students now-a-days to purchase an Ipod, smart phone or Mp3 player to support their curriculum? And what about those left out....what are they supposed to do?
This is a great segueway into the two charts I found most engaging on a personal level. Both of these charts will definitely challenge me to find the best means to support my future students. Out with the old perrinialism and in with the progressivism, social reconstructionism and exestenialism! Consider Essential Elements 3: table 3 page 22 of 27 and Parents' perceived value of the use of games for learning. 76% of the parents poll expressed the idea that incorporating games into the lesson plan appeals to different learning styles. I am ALL about trying to support many different learning styles as we all know that children dont all learn the same. As a child I was marginalized and often questioned about my capabilites until tests and test scores (both were culturally biased) appealed to my educators. 76% of the parents also expressed that gaming increases student engagement. The number one job for an educator is to stoke the curiosity of a learner. The number two job is to create an environment where the student is comfortable participating in. And the number three job is to insure that the student receives opportunity to participate. Lesson plans utilizing game plan do all of this and more.
The second chart that caught my eye in the Speak Up report was Essential Element 2: Un-tethered learning figure 8 page 13 of 27 and Parents' willingness to purchase a mobile device for their child to use at school. 62% said they were likely, these are not the parents and children I am concerned with. Its the 11% that say its the school's responsibility and the additional 16% that said they are unlikely to purchase a mobie device for their child to use at school. What do we when the learning is divided by economics? will we have classes that are for kids with cell phones and classes which have children who are without cell phones? I have spent some quality time at a middle school in the last year and have seen first hand how technology has become an obstacle for others to overcome. As an example, my daughter has a cell phone that is much like a living symbiotic organism. She communicates with all of her friends via texting 16 hours of the day. She receives social invites to parties through this device. She has noted on several occasions that those who dont have cell phones and do not receive texts typically get left out of social events. Technology becomes a means to segregate by. If this is happenbing in a social context it will certainly be done in an educational environment regardless of the teachers incredible capabilites. For me, i draw the line here. If the school will not provide a digital text/canvas/messaging device then it certainly shouldnt promote its use as a viable solution to future education opportunities. Again, I never had to pay for a textbook while in k-12 (unless i lost the one issued to me by the school library)!
This is a great segueway into the two charts I found most engaging on a personal level. Both of these charts will definitely challenge me to find the best means to support my future students. Out with the old perrinialism and in with the progressivism, social reconstructionism and exestenialism! Consider Essential Elements 3: table 3 page 22 of 27 and Parents' perceived value of the use of games for learning. 76% of the parents poll expressed the idea that incorporating games into the lesson plan appeals to different learning styles. I am ALL about trying to support many different learning styles as we all know that children dont all learn the same. As a child I was marginalized and often questioned about my capabilites until tests and test scores (both were culturally biased) appealed to my educators. 76% of the parents also expressed that gaming increases student engagement. The number one job for an educator is to stoke the curiosity of a learner. The number two job is to create an environment where the student is comfortable participating in. And the number three job is to insure that the student receives opportunity to participate. Lesson plans utilizing game plan do all of this and more.
The second chart that caught my eye in the Speak Up report was Essential Element 2: Un-tethered learning figure 8 page 13 of 27 and Parents' willingness to purchase a mobile device for their child to use at school. 62% said they were likely, these are not the parents and children I am concerned with. Its the 11% that say its the school's responsibility and the additional 16% that said they are unlikely to purchase a mobie device for their child to use at school. What do we when the learning is divided by economics? will we have classes that are for kids with cell phones and classes which have children who are without cell phones? I have spent some quality time at a middle school in the last year and have seen first hand how technology has become an obstacle for others to overcome. As an example, my daughter has a cell phone that is much like a living symbiotic organism. She communicates with all of her friends via texting 16 hours of the day. She receives social invites to parties through this device. She has noted on several occasions that those who dont have cell phones and do not receive texts typically get left out of social events. Technology becomes a means to segregate by. If this is happenbing in a social context it will certainly be done in an educational environment regardless of the teachers incredible capabilites. For me, i draw the line here. If the school will not provide a digital text/canvas/messaging device then it certainly shouldnt promote its use as a viable solution to future education opportunities. Again, I never had to pay for a textbook while in k-12 (unless i lost the one issued to me by the school library)!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Suggestions, Comments and or Complaints....
This is my first attempt at BLOGGING for education. I am hoping through this experience I can come away with tools and the means to further my own technological education. If you have any advise, guidance or critic please dont hesitate to post it. Life is constant education, be it technical, social or otherwise.....
I also hope to develop "my OWN voice" from which I can address the world with. and last but certainly not the least,
THANK YOU FOR BEING AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT on this journey of mine.......
I also hope to develop "my OWN voice" from which I can address the world with. and last but certainly not the least,
THANK YOU FOR BEING AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT on this journey of mine.......
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