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Constructivist Celebration @ ISTE 2010

New announcement! Here we go again – the 4th annual Constructivist Celebration @ ISTE is open for registration. If you are going to ISTE (formerly known as NECC) this June in Denver, consider coming a day early for this very special event. It sells out every year, so don’t delay!

Constructivist Celebration @ ISTE – Sunday, June 27, 2010 8:30 – 3:30

The Constructivist Celebration is an opportunity for you to let your creativity run free with the world’s best open-ended software tools in a great setting with enthusiastic colleagues who share your commitment to children, computing, creativity and constructivism. You might think of this stimulating event as a spa day for your mind and soul!

Best of all, the Constructivist Celebration @ ISTE is being held within a few minute walk of the Denver Convention Center, home of the ISTE Conference.

Then you will enjoy five hours of creativity on your own laptop using open-ended creativity software provided by consortium members FableVision, Inspiration, LCSI, and Tech4Learning. Participants will also receive a TechYES Student Technology Certification Mini-kit from Generation YES and SchookIT folks will assist with project development.

Creative computer-using educators deserve to eat like an Italian prince. That’s why this year’s Constructivist Celebration includes continental breakfast, mid-morning refreshment, a three-course Italian lunch and afternoon snacks. This is in addition to the free creativity software and Imagine it2 DVD each participant will receive.

At $60 for the whole package, the Constructivist Celebration is an incredibly affordable event!

Sign up today for the Constructivist Celebration @ ISTE 2010.

I’m excited about this event, it’s always a fun, fabulous day with a creative community. Every year it’s different, and every year I learn something new. I can’t wait to see some of you there!

Sylvia

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The panic about panic buttons

In the UK, Facebook is being pressured to add a “panic button” to the site in the theory that youth can get instant help if bullied or approached by unsavory characters. Unfortunately this reflects silly thinking about the actual dangers of social networking and how youth respond to them. This article by Anne Collier of ConnectSafely explains why.

She wraps up with this powerful thought –

“But for heaven’s sake – or even better, for youth’s sake – let’s please take the “panic” out of this whole important test. It simply doesn’t lend itself to the calm, mutually respectful conversations that help youth develop the critical thinking that protects on the social Web. We had our predator panic on this side of the pond starting in 2006.

At the Family Online Safety Institute’s annual conference in Washington last fall, the Net-safety field declared it over with a strong consensus that scary messaging is not productive. Why? Because it makes young people less inclined to want to come to us for help. They tend to get as far away as possible from scared, overreacting adults; find workarounds that are readily available to them; and then leave us out of the equation right when loving, steady parent-child communication is most needed.”

Please read the whole article: Connect Safely |Facebook: Why a Safety Center and not a ‘panic button’

Sylvia

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Education Outrage: Wrong National Standards, Governor Wise, and Casino Management

“People really are different in different places and have different educational needs. In Wichita they have an airplane manufacturing industry and no one to teach students how to work in it. In parts of the country there are hotels in the middle of nowhere that can’t find anyone nearby who might know how to manage one.

Education needs to be local at just the time when the country is trying to make it into one size fits all.” – Roger Schank

via Education Outrage: Wrong National Standards, Governor Wise, and Casino Management.

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ACEC 2010 Keynote – The 92% Solution

I’m on my way to Australia to keynote the national educational technology conference ACEC 2010. The presentation is called “The 92% Solution” – meaning students who make up 92% of the population at most schools.

The 92% Solution – Sylvia Martinez explores the timeless question of why teachers don’t use technology in the classroom from a new perspective.

Since the introduction of computers into schools, teacher professional development has been designed to teach teachers how to use technology in the classroom. Unfortunately, after 30 years there is little evidence that this effort has been successful. Conventional wisdom suggests that the problem is a lack of professional development. This is an assumption that should be challenged.

The days of “sit and get” technology professional development are over. Learn about what’s next – the 92% solution, a strategy that empowers students, improves teaching, and enriches the learning community.

I’m honored and excited to be taking part in this conference – it seems that there is an international recognition that we cannot advance into the future of education without taking the largest stakeholder group into account. Luckily, communication and collaboration technology is facillitating this — a perfect storm at this perfect moment in time.

See you there – Thursday, 8 April 2010 09:00 – 10:00 in Plenary Hall

I’ll also be doing a session – If Games are the Answer, What’s the Question?

Sylvia

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Students teach tech to superintendents

Last month at AASA (the American Association of School Administrators annual conference) in Phoenix, Arizona, several GenYES students from nearby Paradise Valley School District were invited to participate in an Apple itouch/ipod workshop for the attending superintendents.

Apple ipod Conference AASA from Debbie Kovesdy on Vimeo.

GenYES students from elementary, middle and high school presented the devices, circulated through the audience as the superintendents learned about educational uses, and provided help throughout the workshop.

And when you watch this video, notice that these students care deeply that these adults grasp how important using technology is for them. The good news is, there are students like this in every school, just waiting for an opportunity to put their passion about digital communication to good use to improve learning.

These students are part of a district-wide vision in Paradise Valley that students are a crucial part of integrating technology into every classroom. GenYES classes teach students technology, mentoring, and leadership so they can assist teachers and fellow students with technology.

As you can see, Paradise Valley is a leader in student-centered technology. They were the first K12 institution in the world to make content, lessons, and student work available on ITunes U/K12. Their pTUNES portal is now available to schools and districts statewide through a partnership with Apple, Arizona IDEAL, and Arizona State University (ASU). For this innovation, pTUNES was awarded the 2009 Cox Technology in Education Award. More about PTUNES…

Oh, one more thing – the video was (of course) produced by the GenYES team at Shadow Mountain High School in Paradise Valley.

Congratulations to the students, teachers, and administrators at PVUSD!

Sylvia

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Thinking about BYOT – Bring Your Own Technology? Start with students!

Districts should also talk with students before they start something new, said Mitchell of Forsyth County Schools. Administrators need to ask the kids how they approach learning with technology, what kinds of tech tools they would like to see in school and how they would use the tools if they had them, which is what his district has done with its bring-your-own-technology (BYOT) push.

“In the past, we would come up with an initiative, and we’d get it funded, we’d plan for it, we’d roll it out,” Mitchell said. “Did we ever ask the students about it? No. So some of the newer initiatives we’re doing like this BYOT, we’re starting with that conversation with students — “what do y’all think?” — and getting that ground floor involvement with them at the onset of the project, ’cause ultimately that’s who we’re doing it for anyway.”

via School Districts Lay Foundation for Mobile Devices.

This is from an article from Converge Magazine about students bringing their own technology (BYOT) to school. It has practical suggestions from several different school districts across the U.S. for planning and implementing this strategy.

Sylvia

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$10,000 Internet safety video contest (ages 13+)

Computer security company Trend Micro has an offer for any teen or adult who cares about Internet safety and security and wants to become an award winning filmmaker. The company has launched a contest called “What’s Your Story?” where the person who submits the best short video (no more than 2 minutes) can win $10,000. There are also four $500 prizes.

The deadline is April 30, 2010.

This would be a great project for students to show what they know and put it to work!

Sylvia

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New Hampshire teachers say filtering hampers teaching

via Cyberoam Survey Reveals Most Schools and Teachers Suspect Students Can Bypass Content Filtering Soutions

This survey was conducted by a filtering company and taken by school administrators and teachers at the annual Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference held in Nashua, New Hampshire in Nov. 2009.

  • 66% of the school administrators and teachers surveyed indicated that students know how to bypass their school system’s content-filtering solution
  • 56% sense that their current security solution hampers the teaching process.
  • 89% consider the Internet is generally safe for students.

While I disagree with the filtering company conclusion that these results mean that better filtering is THE  answer, the numbers are interesting. What does it mean when we know something doesn’t work and we keep doing it anyway?

Sylvia

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Internet safety – fear tactics don’t work

via NetFamilyNews

Last week Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled the children-and-family part of the FCC’s universal broadband plan, designed to enable, among other things, 21st-century education. There’s just one problem: Schools have long turned to law enforcement for guidance in informing their communities about youth safety on the Net, broadband or otherwise, and the guidance they’re getting scares parents, school officials, and children about using the Internet.

Read the rest of this article from Net Family News Major obstacle to universal broadband & what can help for the real facts about Internet safety.

Ann Collier has collected a compact list of resources that YOU NEED today about a new approach called the “social norms” approach, used by health professionals to “identify, model, and promote the healthy, protective behavior.”

The scare tactics and stranger-danger approach prevalent over the last decade is “doubly problematic”, says Ann. It not only fails to change behavior, it hampers the efforts of educators to integrate technology into meaningful, relevant learning experiences for youth that WOULD change behavior.

The good news is this appears to be changing, and kudos to the FCC for seeing this so clearly – the bad news is, there’s still a long way to go to reach most K-12 schools.

Sylvia

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Six Myths About Service Learning

From Principal Leadership magazine: Six Myths About Service Learning by Scott Richardson and Michael Josephson.

Service learning is the Rodney Dangerfield of education. Students say that it’s an “annoying requirement.” Parents say, “My kid will learn more in the classroom than in the community.” Teachers say, “It won’t improve test scores.” Principals say, “It’s a feel-good mandate that kids aren’t capable of understanding.”

Read this article to find out about the six myths and the real facts about service learning. Done right, service learning benefits students both academically and socially, creates opportunities for learning citizenship, empowers youth, and benefits schools and communities. And that’s no myth!

Sylvia