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Engagement is not a goal

Litter - McDonalds

A few years ago, a Yale study showed that young children preferred food, even carrots and milk, wrapped in a McDonald’s wrapper over the same food without branding. It’s a clear win for marketing!

In education, we tend to hear news like this as a reason to try to wrap a layer of relevance around lessons, like adding hip hop lyrics to word problems and hoping kids are fooled into liking math more.  The hope is that superficial graphics, popular references, or high tech gadgets will result in student “engagement.”

The confusion of “engagement” as a primary goal of lesson design is a mistake. Engagement is not a goal, it’s an outcome of doing interesting, personally meaningful work.

The idea that children are swayed by marketing messages should not be a call to educators to use the same tactics, but to provide children with deep exposure to ideas so that they can see past marketing sleight of hand.

Children should be taught to analyze marketing messages — but they should also learn about food, make food, and grow food. They need time to taste it, to feel it, and to see a flower change into a pea pod. Eventually they will make better choices about their own food. (Then they will read the calorie counts on the menu and annoyingly recite them to you when you are trying to enjoy a Bloomin’ Onion. But I digress…)

Children should also have the opportunity to live and learn with technology that puts them in control. Control does not mean pushing a button or clicking on the right answer. Control means using open-ended tools that allow for meaningful interaction with data, people, ideas, and concepts. It means programming and simulations. It means making, not consuming. It means giving students agency and responsibility for their work.

Students may be momentarily entertained by technology used to wrap a stale activity, but it won’t last.

Sylvia

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Beyond technology capacity

Many times when we work with new schools implementing GenYES or TechYES student technology leadership programs we find that they have a lot of technology, but that the perception and reality in the classroom is very different.

It’s one thing to know that you have wireless in all your schools, but do you really know if it’s useful? That it reaches every classroom? That when the 26th device logs in, the whole system breaks? Or that the new filtering software is so aggressive that almost every search ends up with a “NOT ALLOWED” message? That you have brand new projectors, but no projector bulbs? Hey, you know those IWBs you installed in every classroom? Did you also know that someone locked up the box of special pens somewhere and no one can find them?

Is there a a way to move beyond the traditional “technology capacity” survey that counts hardware and software?

Yes, I think there is, you just have to ask. But be prepared for the onslaught of reality!

I think technology capacity breaks down into three parts:

  1. Inventory – do things actually exist, how many, etc.
  2. Use – do people know about them, trust them, and use them
  3. Reliability – are things easy to access, in working condition, reliable and if there are problems, can they get help quickly.

Part #1 is pretty traditional and still important – how much, how many, etc. I think most schools have a handle on #1. If not, get counting!

But if you want to be brave and ask further, how about these questions?

  • Network server space – Can it be used by students and teachers. Do people know how? Is it easy to access, reliable, and is there enough space? Do files suddenly go missing? When someone runs out of space can they get more?
  • Email – Do teachers check their email (how often)? Is it reliable, or do emails or attachments disappear? Do students have email, use email for classwork, and can they access provided email at school and home? Does the mail filter label too many things as spam or make suspected spam hard to retrieve? Can teachers request email senders to be put on a whitelist?
  • Web access – Beyond calculated bandwidth, is connectivity good in all classrooms, or does bandwidth fluctuate? Can you log into network reliably  and can multiple machines log in at once, or are devices “kicked off” at random? Is filtering non-intrusive; can teachers easily request to unblock something and are those requests handled quickly?
  • Hardware – Beyond “how many” – does equipment work, can you get cables and other required parts? If there are consumables (like video tapes or projector bulbs) can you get more?. Can you easily move files from cameras, scanners, recording devices, etc into other computers for processing? Can you get parts and repairs when needed?
  • Software – Beyond “the list” – Are versions up to date, and can you get upgrades when you need them? Do you have software to create projects (other than slideshows and word processing) – video editing, animation, programming, simulations, audio editing, graphic programs? Do you have enough, are they age appropriate, and are the computers powerful enough to run them?
  • Tech support response – Beyond average response time, what is the average time for issues being fixed to the satisfaction of the person having the problem? Is there a standard way that problems are reported, tracked, and fixed? Do people know how to request help, and is the system working – or do you have a low problem rate because everyone has given up hope of ever getting help?

I’d love to hear your additions to this list – I’m sure I’ve forgotten many important things!

Sylvia

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Infographic: Why Students Choose STEM

chart

From STEMReports.com – Why Students Choose STEM

Note that games, toys, books, and clubs are a huge reason student pick STEM majors and ultimately careers.

Could this be because typical US STEM curriculum doesn’t do a good job at inspiring excitement and passion about science, technology, engineering and math? That student interest and aptitude is there, but we just have to stop boring them to death with vocabulary lists and memorizing equations? Hmm… I wonder…

Sylvia

PS – Stretching the graphic like this makes some of the areas overlap, but at least it’s somewhat readable. But be sure to take a look at the original and the PDF report for lots more information.

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Cybersafety – do fear and exaggeration increase risk?

Larry Magid, co-director of Connect Safely.org has created a very effective slideshare about how exaggerating the risk of being online actually increases the real risk.

This is perfect for a back to school presentation – it is clear, jargon-free, and aimed at parents.

Do fear and exaggeration increase risk?

View more presentations from Larry Magid
Be sure to view this slideshow all the way to the end, where Larry gives examples of “positive norming” as an alternative to fear-based messages about cybersafety and cyberbullying. Positive norming is when facts are presented about what most people do – and most people do not bully or engage in risky online behavior. Focusing on behavior that is NOT the norm makes it seem like it’s more prevalent than it actually is.
As Larry points out:
  • People, especially youth, can benefit from positive images and role models
  • Creating a culture of respect actually can lead to respect
  • Respectful behavior truly is normal. Most kids do not bully

Sylvia

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Pure genius – students run the help desk

The informal help desk model, or as Apple calls it, the Genius Bar, is a great model for tech support in schools. Like Apple figured out, putting help in the open is part of demystifying it. Your computer doesn’t disappear into a back room, instead, a friendly person, a real human being, helps you. Why shouldn’t tech support be more like asking a friend, “hey, how did you do that?” This creates a culture of collaboration where questions are encouraged and not knowing something does not require a walk of shame to the dark tech closet at the end of the hall.

So the question is, how do you staff a genius bar full time, with people who have time to answer questions, not just fix broken hardware? Answer… students.

Here’s a great example. THE Journal’s recent article, When Students Run the Help Desk, profiles Burlington High School in Massachusetts where a new 1:1 iPad initiative includes students running a help desk. Why? Because as the principal says, it’s a “no-brainer.”

Also from THE Journal a few issues back was They’re Taking Requests: Student Techs Command the Help Desk — THE Journal which profiled several other student-led tech support projects including several GenYES schools in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Everyone benefits with this solution – more support for teachers and students using technology, students learn great life skills like listening to others and troubleshooting, and the school puts forward a model that everyone is part of the problem-solving community. It’s better than win-win, it’s win-win-win-win.

In other words, pure genius!

Sylvia

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Global educators – new accredited professional development opportunity

TIGed logo

Join the fine folks at TakingITGlobal for some exciting professional development on global education and project-based learning. Starting this month, TIGed is offering two accredited e-courses in technology-enabled global education for teachers around the world!

TakingITGlobal is a youth community site with over 140,000 members worldwide. The site tools allow members to create or join global projects, with community and sharing features. To support teachers, they offer TIGed, a community with resources and shared space to plan or learn more about how to support global education.

Starting September 14, 2011: TIGed is offering two e-courses: “Introduction to Global Education” and “Introduction to Global Project-Based Learning.” The first course familiarizes participants with the driving pedagogies behind global education and guides them in exploring practical strategies for globalizing their curricula. The second course builds on the first by exploring how global education can best merge with project-based learning strategies, including how to use online tools to effectively collaborate with international partners. You can learn more about what is covered in each course by visiting the TakingITGlobal Professional Development homepage.

The first e-course starts September 14th, so don’t delay! Register today to secure your spot by visiting the TIGed Professional Development site.

Sounds fun! Don’t miss out –

Sylvia

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Information overload – a historical perspective

Feeling overwhelmed by too much information? What else is new? The amount of digital data available on the Web every day reaches records of mind-boggling proportions—now more than a zettabyte (1021 bytes) and presumably accumulating at an ever-increasing rate, estimated at 30-percent growth per year from 1999 to 2002.

But such figures—often presented as evidence of unprecedented and stress-inducing overload—don’t mean much. After all, it takes only one or two pages of Google hits to overwhelm the average reader. Does it really matter whether there are hundreds or thousands more pages after those?

More important, information overload was experienced long before the appearance of today’s digital gadgets. Complaints about “too many books” echo across the centuries, from when books were papyrus rolls, parchment manuscripts, or hand printed.

Read more of this fascinating article…

It always bothers me when people talk about how information is overloading children today. It just seems like adults projecting their own anxiety onto children. Children have no idea that there is “more” information now, their context is the present. They aren’t overloaded any more than our generation was overloaded the first time we walked into a library. No one ran out screaming “I’ll never read them all!!!”

That’s not to say that children don’t need guidance. But let’s leave our adult neuroses at the door when teaching children about the riches of the Internet.

Sylvia

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Hack the Future – kids learn by tinkering with code

At Hack the Future, an event for school-aged kids in San Jose, hacking means creating code, sharing ideas, programming, and learning from each other. This is a great example of how “tinkering”, or experimenting with how something is built, can be a terrific way to get kids to think not just about consuming computing but creating it, too. Experienced hackers — like Al Alcorn, creator of the popular 1980s video game, Pong — attended the event and encouraged the kids to express their creativity through hacking.

Read more…

You can call it hacking, or you can call it tinkering, but it’s the way most programmers learn to program. By modifying code others have written, you can learn an incredible amount. Programming, like life, is rarely done starting with a flowchart!

Sylvia

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iPlay no more? Has childhood play been changed by technology?

I recently ran across this interesting study, Children’s Playground Games and Songs in the New Media Age (PDF). Honestly, I don’t remember where or how it came up, but it was one of those things that I had no idea people even studied formally, but once reading it, seemed impossible not to want to know more.

It’s a wonderful antidote to some of the silly pronouncements of late that childhood is “toxic”, that children have no capacity for real play anymore, and of couse pointing to technology as the ogre in this sad myth.

However, this study disputes those claims.

“Needless  to  say,  serious  research  in  this  field  has  usually  discovered  the  opposite.  Our  own project, found  that  play  was  alive  and  well,  more  diverse  in  some  respects  than  ever,  and  drawing  on resources  which  had  both  a  long  historical  lineage  as  well  as  ones  from  contemporary  media cultures.”

This is really a fascinating study, with a website with digital recordings, ethnographic studies, collections of the games, a documentary film,  and interestingly, a panel of youth who provided input and commentary on the study.

Hope you read it!

Sylvia

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Live by the cloud, die by the cloud, love the cloud

There is a lot of love out there for Web 2.0 tools in schools that use “the Cloud”. This term means when someone else provides storage for your files online, or offers apps for creating products (like videos, online posters, or online presentations) that live completely online somewhere in cyberspace.

Cloud solutions can be lifesavers for teachers who are expected to turn a zero dollar software budget and antiquated network storage into amazing 21st century learning by students. But like any decision, there are tradeoffs.

Price – you gotta love “free”!
Many cloud apps are free, or operate on a “freemium” model. This means that there may be useful and wonderful features that are free, but you (and your students) may find it tiresome to be continually urged to purchase “points” or  upgraded features. There is also no guarantee that what’s free today will remain free forever. Most companies eventually want to make money and they may decide to change their policies at times that aren’t convenient for you and your students.

Ads
The other way companies make money on free apps and unlimited storage is through advertising. Some sites offer educators ad-free options, or promise child-friendly advertising. This is not a guarantee, though, and a simple switch of ad providers could result in advertising that is not school appropriate — if there is ever such a thing.

Stability, or “Teacher, the cloud ate my homework!”
The “cloud” is great when it works. When it disappears for no reason, is down for maintenance the weekend before projects are due, or  the website shuts down — there is often no support, no recourse, and typically no way to extract student work.

Age restrictions
Many cloud apps require users to be over 13 years old. It’s not that they are difficult to use, or even have some “adult” features to watch out for. This is simply a company deciding that they don’t want to deal with the rigorous federal laws concerning marketing to children under 13. It’s easier to just ask users to state that they are over 13 when they sign up. Teachers may be faced with a decision of whether to ask students to lie about their age to sign up – not a good model for students learning Internet safety and citizenship.

A site that asks for confirmation of age over 18 or asks for a credit card is a different story. This is an indication that there is adult material on the site.

Privacy and “social” features
Many cloud apps offer  features like public galleries, commenting by the public, communication with other “members” of the website, or other features where members can access shared spaces. These features may not be apparent at first, or have complex settings that students must set. These apps should be evaluated carefully to see if they violate school policy and are worth it.

Your network speed and reliability
Using cloud apps depends on students being able to access the Internet in a reliable way. Some schools still struggle with inconsistent connectivity and speeds that are close to dial up. Things may work one day and not the next, or may work with 5 students but not 20. You won’t really know until you try, and the inconsistency can be even more exasperating when you constantly have to troubleshoot a moving target.

Your network settings
Some school networks have student access set up on a single account. This can cause havoc with cloud apps that assume that people are using personal computers with unique identities. I’ve seen workshops where suddenly one student is logged into someone else’s account and looking at their files. Not a happy moment.

Username and password-pallooza
Cloud apps often require logins and passwords for each student. If you use multiple apps, there will be a unique username and password for each student for each app. These pieces of vital information will have a different format for each app, some will ask for an email address as a username, the next will not. Some will require 6 characters, combinations of upper and lower case letters, numbers, different password configurations, etc.. It’s very inconsistent.

Some schools give students usernames and passwords that they can use for multiple accounts. If you do this, cover your bases by making them 8 characters long with a combination of upper and lower case letters, one punctuation mark, and at least one number. Not exactly easy to memorize, but at least the teacher can keep a list. And even then, be prepared for an app that doesn’t accept this combination.

Most adults don’t keep track of passwords, they let their browser or computer password application (like Keychain on the Mac) keep track of their passwords. But if your students are using shared computers without unique logins, they can’t rely on this. And if they can’t keep track of them, guess who has to?

Student Email
Some schools are still reluctant to give their students email addresses and access to email. Almost all cloud apps are going to need an email address attached to the account, if only to activate the account and retrieve lost passwords. Some teachers get around this by using their own email address, or creating special email addresses for students to use that all redirect back to their own account.

Besides being a hassle, it’s a bit ridiculous. Seriously – it’s 2011, time to get over this. If students need to use the cloud and can be trusted to manage this, it’s time to give them their own email addresses. Now, will they remember them? Who knows!

IT support (or lack thereof)
If the school IT department doesn’t support cloud apps and storage, a teacher may one day find that their cloud solution is blocked, or worse, no love from the IT staff when there are issues to solve. Some people ask permission, some for forgiveness – your mileage may vary.

Ease of use
Pro – Cloud apps are often easy to use and provide quick and easy ways to get work done.

Con – you wouldn’t think that “easy to use” could have a downside, but consider this. Some apps are easy to use because they have an extremely small feature set. For students, this means no way to become proficient at the kind of higher order thinking possible when using tools that require pre-production, editing, post-production, or fine tuning.

An app that requires one click to produce a result is a toy, not a tool. That said, I’m all for toys where appropriate, but this is a difference that’s worth the distinction.

What the cloud is best for…

  • When there is no student-accessible network storage, the storage is unreliable, or the allocated space is so small it’s nearly worthless.
  • When students do not have personal computers. It’s difficult to use shared computers to do real work when there is no guarantee that your files will be there the next time you use the computer (if you even get the same computer).  This is especially true for longer-term projects and projects that require large files (like movies). When you have multiple students using one computer, you need to make sure that students can save their work somewhere. A flash drive is probably not going to cut it, even if the students remember to bring it and use it. The cloud may offer a solution, but it still means students will need to understand how to save and access their work.
  • When you have robust Internet connectivity
  • When students need to access files from multiple computers, multiple devices, and/or home computers. Using cloud apps like Evernote and Dropbox can be easy ways to get started with cloud storage.
  • Using open-ended cloud apps and tools like wikis. Wikis can be an excellent way to collaborate on a project and there are no pre-set expectations for using the tool. It is what it is.
  • When you have a back-up plan. Some cloud apps allow files to be downloaded and saved. If you can, do it to make sure you aren’t caught off guard.
  • When the whole school or whole district is implementing a cloud-based solution. There is synergy in a group effort to use and learn a single tool, suite, storage solution, or application. There will be support, and opportunities for collaboration and sharing of best practices.
  • When there is no hope of a software budget. This is a long term trap, however. Using free apps and cloud storage makes it seem that these items should be off the table forever. That may reinforce the perception that purchasing robust software and storage solutions aren’t really necessary. “Making do” is a both a blessing and a curse, and unfortunately, something teachers are increasingly expected to do.

So in the end, you can love the cloud and live by the cloud if you understand that its not a magic solution to all life’s problems. But really, what is?

Sylvia

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt