Category: education reform

Posted on

Only the Developed World Lacks Women in Computing

Only the Developed World Lacks Women in Computing | blog@CACM | Communications of the ACM.

Mark Guzdial wrote this short report from a gathering of the National Center for Women & IT Computing (NWCIT). Several talks focused on international studies that show that IT is not considered a “male” vocation in many less developed countries. For example, says Guzdial,

Vivian Lagesen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology presented her study of Malaysia, where the 52% of all CS undergraduate majors are female. Vivian interviewed students, department chairs (mostly female), and a Dean (female). She found that Malaysians can’t understand why anyone would think computing is particularly male — if anything, they consider it more female, since it’s safe, mostly inside work “like cooking.”

We’ve seen this in our work in Malaysia as well. Even in schools where males and females are taught in segregated classrooms, the prevalence of female IT staff and IT teachers is striking.

The article summarizes some speculation about why this is true, but here’s my take on it. I believe the search for gender identity is a strong human need. When societies evolve to be more equal, the barriers to gender entry into specific fields change from externally imposed to self imposed. Women used to be strongly discouraged, even banned outright from certain professions. That, thankfully is no longer the case in the US.

Instead, these practices have been replaced with more subtle cultural definitions of what femininity and masculinity mean. I think people are as influenced as much by these subtle signals as being overtly told that women “aren’t good at math.” In other countries where women have more defined cultural roles, perhaps they feel like they have enough gender identity, and don’t have to rely on a job to define themselves.

My thought is that there is a fine line between outright discrimination based on gender and culturally imposed definitions of gender that mold girls’ views of who they are. And if there are fewer externally imposed rules, people create their own. Sending messages to girls about their ability to be engineers and scientists has to go beyond simply telling them, “you can do anything!”

Your thoughts?

Sylvia

Posted on

Constructing Modern Knowledge 2009

Wow, I’ve had this post in draft mode for way too long and it’s getting way too long as a result! This may turn out to be a couple of posts.

Constructing Modern Knowledge 2009 was July 13-16 in Manchester, NH. This is the second year for this event, and my second year being on the faculty.

First of all, the event once again exceeded my expectations, both in content and the attendees. The things that happened there and the conversations I’ve had fueled a lot of new thinking on my own part. There were also some things that I wished we’d had more time for.

At CMK, there are few presentations, so that the bulk of the time is spent working on projects and thinking about how these kinds of project experiences, especially using computers, translate back to the classroom. But two presentations stood out to me and invaded my thinking throughout the event and beyond.

Deborah MeierDeborah Meier was one. She was warm and grandmotherly, smart, and her presentation was amazing. And when I say presentation, it wasn’t a powerpoint. It was just her, standing in front of us recounting her own journey to becoming a progressive educator with insightful, interesting anecdotes that perfectly illustrated her points. Her appeal for a community-based approach to education and its connection to building our democracy was compelling and reinforced much of my work in regards to student voice.

I was glad that I re-read her book, The Power of Their Ideas on the plane ride to Manchester. It reminded me of how subtle ideas can be so powerful when executed with passion and care. Her talk reinforced how much work it takes over long periods of time to make things you care about sustain and grow.

Lela Gandini was the other speaker that brought it home for me. Dr. Gandini is the United States liaison for the dissemination of the Reggio Emilia approach, a revolutionary learner-centered approach pioneered in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Her presentation was complemented by amazing visuals of the Reggio schools and the work of children. The schools are constructed with deliberate care to provide space, light, and to support a creative learning environment. The attention to detail and the constant working towards making it better was fascinating.

Reggio is also built on having teachers carefully listen to children, document and discuss their work, and take direction from the interests of children to build a rich, layered learning experience. There is a lot of attention paid to the integration of art using rich materials to draw out children and help develop the child’s sense of self, and their place in the community and the world.

The juxtaposition of Meier’s focus on student voice as a part of creating a stronger democracy and the Reggio focus on listening carefully to student ideas to guide learning opened my eyes once again. They both were saying similar things, yet in subtly different ways. There were so many factors that go into creating these kinds of learning communities, not the least of which is the importance of engaging adults who are willing to be open to learning themselves and sublimating their own desire to quickly impart knowledge into a desire to guide children as part of a life-long learning journey.

Next post will be more about the attendees and the awesome project work we all did during the week. You may have also noticed that there seemed to be very little in this post to do with technology. I’ll talk about that later too. For now, though, just a few resources about these two remarkable women and “the power of their ideas.”

An online bookstore collection (by Gary Stager,) including books by Deborah Meier and books about Reggio Emilia.

More to come…

Sylvia

Posted on

Tinkering School

Once a year at the TED conference, invited speakers from all fields and backgrounds gather to give short talks about their subjects of interest. The conference website holds a treasure trove of brilliant, moving examples of storytelling about things that matter.

In this 4 minute video, Gever Tulley talks about his Tinkering School. This is a subject I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, especially in regards to technology. My post a few months ago, Technology Literacy and Sustained Tinkering Time was about how looking at technology through the lens of tinkering makes more sense than approaching it through checklists and skill acquisition charts.

But I think this TED talk is nice because it shows kids doing things, and he talks about what is necessary to facilitate this kind of learning — time, materials, and openness to the serendipity of both success and failure. Time is such a key element. Time to think, time to change your mind, and time to work through frustration.

In the comment page for the video, there is a a lively discussion of how computers fit into this world of “stuff” for kids to mess around with. Some people look at computers (and video games) as taking children out of the “real world” of making things with hammers and nails, but I know that computers are not in opposition to children tinkering. Children, especially with open-ended, creative software tools can flow seamlessly between creating virtual and real things that have meaning to them.

This fits in perfectly with my work next week at the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. I’m looking forward to 4 days of tinkering with all the cool materials and software we bring in. According to Gary Stager, who leads the institute, teachers often see student frustration as a failure, and want to “help” students through it as quickly as possible. He says that teachers simply need to fine tune their reactions to differentiate between “mouth up” and “mouth down” frustration. No one wants to just leave a student stuck forever in an endless loop of problems. But to rescue them too soon means they never develop the problem solving skills they need. At CMK, the teachers learn that lesson by going through it themselves, tackling complex projects that have natural cycles of success, frustration, and more success.

Here’s a video from CMK last year, made during the event by one of the participants, that shows some of this in action.

By the way, there are a few places left, so sign up and come on down. What better way to spend a week than going to technology tinkering school!

Sylvia

Posted on

Sharing success stories from Eastside High

This note in from Dr. Sandy Wagner, long-time advocated of technology in education and currently helping out as a math tutor at Eastside Preparatory School in East Palo Alto:

“This article in the San Francisco Chronicle and the accompanying video describe the school in East Palo Alto where I have been tutoring for four years.  Eastside is a result of creative genius and hard work; it had to be invented and the existing models were scarce.  The story is impressive – Chris Bischof, a basketball fanatic in high school, found the best pickup games were in East Palo Alto, which once led the nation in per capita murders. When he was heading off to Stanford Chris realized that none of his ball playing friends was going anywhere.  That simple observation became the focus of his undergraduate career, and led him to that first meeting with eight students about 13 years ago.”

Eastside Succeeds By Focusing on Students – San Francisco Chronicle, June 11, 2009

Sandy goes on, “There are some phrases in the article that make the whole thing sound simple, that anyone could do it: “believing in students helps them find success”, “the school appears to brush aside any doubt that closing the achievement gap can be done.”  The important quote is a modest one from Chris, who really deserves a MacArthur ‘genius’ grant or at least national recognition – “it’s the full package – that’s what it takes.”  If anyone wonders why a nearby high school with similar goals and student body, and the support of Stanford University, just flounders along, it’s because this is not a simple thing that can be achieved with slogans and college pennants hanging on the walls.”

Sandy has hit on some of difficulties of communicating why school models differ. It’s difficult to explain how slogans don’t translate to success, when slogans are such compact little devices. In contrast, subtle, complex human interaction takes too long to explain, much less to actually do.

“The article mentions some features of the school.  Here are more contents of “the full package”:  There is a large room reserved for tutoring by volunteers, and tutoring time is built into each day. There is a modern computer lab and complete connectivity throughout the school, but no library.  Teachers are remarkably dedicated to the school’s mission – their regular day is 8 to 5 with kids.  Advanced Placement classes, including calculus, advanced biology, and physics, are in each student’s program.  All students reach at least pre-calculus.  Every incoming student takes summer school to get up to speed in math and writing.  Every senior spends 6 weeks at the summer “boot camp” in preparation for all phases of the college admission process.  Every student takes Spanish; those who already speak it take courses to prepare them for AP Spanish.  All students take art and music and show their work in public exhibits and concerts at the school.  A full time staff member is dedicated to staying in touch with graduates during their college years.  Every senior does a research project that is presented, quite professionally in my experience, to a panel of teachers.  All this is provided tuition-free.”

This school does sound like a fabulous, caring place, but there are places with great facilities that fail miserably to serve their students. There are so many lessons to be learned here, but I think the big one is, “…the full package–that’s what it takes.” Tinkering around the edges won’t work, nor will slogans about how different things will be. Sandy says, “it had to be invented” not because good schools don’t exist, but because real innovation can’t be checked off a shopping list or slapped together from parts and pieces. Sharing models, and going beyond the superficial is important to help all the other future Eastsides and future Chris Bischofs of the world. People have the power to reinvent education, we just need to share success stories, ideas, and why the hard work is worth it.

Sylvia

Posted on

Tinkering with Twitter

By now you’ve probably heard of Twitter, the latest techno-craze taken up by those-in-the-know, celebrities, and well, me too. It’s so popular that the inevitable “it’s not so great” stories are now making their way into the news. According to this Harvard study (link from BBC news) Twitter hype punctured by study, “…most people only ever “tweet” once during their lifetime…”

“Based on the numbers, Twitter is certainly not a service where everyone who has seen it has instantly loved it,” said Bill Heil, a graduate from Harvard Business School who carried out the work.

That quote alone got me thinking. Since when does everyone have to love the same thing instantly and do things in exactly the same way. Oh, right — school.

A couple of months ago I wrote two posts on the subject of tinkering that have probably gotten me the most (offline) comments of anything I’ve written. Technology Literacy and Sustained Tinkering Time and Tinkering as a mode of knowledge production in a Digital Age.

Part of the magic of tinkering is that everyone does not do the same thing, that people can easily pick up tools and materials (digital or otherwise) and quickly do something that is personally engaging.

Hurray for Twitter for making it so easy to try out, so easy to decide if it’s right (or wrong) for you. Hurray for a world where you can twitter about lunch and twitter to save your country.

Are there parallels to learning?

In some ways, yes… especially for technology, making simple tools available means people (students and teachers) can try them out and find immediate uses. Or discard them quickly. They have a low barrier to entry. Twitter fits this bill nicely.

In some ways, no… education is about asking youth to find their passion and make meaning of the world, without making them hate it. Even if it takes effort to push them into it, even if it takes a caring, persistent adult to show a youth that that passion does indeed exist. Tools that offer a high ceiling, a potential to go further than you ever thought possible, to create, to creep into complexity, to explore a craft deeply, meet this need. That’s not Twitter, nor most of the Web 2.0 world.

Tools that offer both are indeed extremely rare and valuable.

Sylvia

Posted on

New report from the EU on Games in Schools

A new research report – How are Digital Games Used in Schools has just been released by a group called European Schoolnet, a consortium of 31 ministries of education in Europe. This study was sponsored by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe , representing companies in the interactive software industry.

How are Digital Games Used in Schools covers  the use of games in schools in Europe: video games, computer games, online games that run on consoles, computers, handhelds or mobile phones.

– Full report (180 page PDF) – English version
– Synthesis report (40 page PDF) – English version

The researchers interviewed over 500 teachers, 30 decision-makers, and included 6 case studies and a review of the scientific literature. They came to some interesting conclusions, both from a teaching and learning standpoint.

  • “The teachers who are involved in these practices leave nothing to improvisation in their pedagogical use of these games; on the contrary, they prepare them very carefully.”
  • “Experiments in the classroom use of games are bringing teachers together in a community of practice, and associating the whole educational community and parents around the pupils’ achievements.”
  • “Practices centred on games rehabilitate more traditional teaching tools in the eyes of the pupils.”

European Schoolnet also established a social network as part of this study for teachers interested in using digital games in the classroom.

From the conclusion – “The investigations that have been made show that electronic games favour a way of learning that is particularly in tune with the modes of learning now regarded as effective. The table below summarizes several major principles of learning that are now known and recognized. It relates them
to the characteristics of electronic games and the modes of use that they generate. The correspondences that
emerge argue in favour of a‘re-opening of the case’ [of using digital games in the classroom].”

Report table

– Full report (180 page PDF) – English version
– Synthesis report (40 page PDF) – English version

Sylvia

Posted on

Last chance for free ebook from ASCD

Update – this offer is now expired. You can still get the e-book for $9.95 (or $7.95 if you are an ASCD member.) Still a pretty good deal if you ask me!

May 6, 2009 is the last day to download a free ebook, Educating the Whole Child, from ASCD. After this, this 366 page e-book will only be available for a fee.

Do students really want to learn? Can schools and classrooms become joyful? Are there natural links between standard curriculum and what motivates students to learn? Explore these and other questions in this e-book collection of articles from Educational Leadership by renowned authors such as Carol Ann Tomlinson, Richard Sagor, Nel Noddings, Thomas R. Guskey, and Allison Zmuda.

Besides these fabulous and well-known authors, you will also get our article, Working with Tech-Savvy Kids, along with other articles by Will Richardson, king of the edu-bloggers, and many more.

Don’t miss out on this free offer!

Educating the Whole Child ebook – free download link (valid April 15 – May 6, 2009)

Sylvia

Subscribe to the Generation YES Blog
Posted on

Successful, sustainable strategies for technology integration and tech support in a tough economy

This weekend I’ll be in San Diego as an invited speaker at the National School Board Association (NSBA) conference. I’m not sure I realized how relevant it would be when I proposed Successful, Sustainable Strategies for Technology Integration and Tech Support in a Tough Economy as my topic last year.

I’ll be focusing on 5 strategies that create strong local communities of practice around the use of technology. All of these strategies include students as part of the solution. They are:

  • Technology literacy for all – Creating an expectation that modern technology will be used for academics, schoolwork, communication, community outreach, and teaching. A key success factor is teaching students how to support their peers as mentors and leaders.
  • Student tech teams – The 21st century version of the old A/V club, this strategy expands the definition of tech support from fixing broken things to also include just-in-time support of teachers as they use new technology. This digital generation is ready, willing and able to help improve education, we just need to show them how.
  • Professional development 24/7 – The old idea that teachers would go off to one workshop or a conference and immediately start using technology has been proven wrong. Truly integrated technology use requires a bigger change than that, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Teachers require more support in their classrooms that they can count on when they need it. Students can help provide teachers with this constancy and supportive community.
  • Students as stakeholders – Whenever schools initiate new technology programs, there is typically a call for all stakeholders to be included. Parents, teachers, staff, board members, and members of the community are invited to participate — but rarely students. Even though students are 92% of the population at the school, and are 100% of the reason for wanting to improve education, their voice goes unheard. Students can bring passion and point-of-view to the planning and implementation of major technology initiatives. They can be allies and agents of change, rather than passive objects to be changed.
  • Students as resource developers – Students can help develop the resources every teacher and student needs to use technology successfully. These resources can be help guides, posters, instructional videos, school websites, or teacher home pages. Students of all types can use their talents to build customized resources for their own school. Artists, actors, and techies can contribute to this process.

Building a self-sufficient community of technology users means that whenever possible, you build home-grown expertise and local problem-solving capability. This is the high-tech equivalent of a victory garden, only with teachers and students all growing their own capabilities with each other’s help.

In this tough economy, no one can afford to ignore the potential students have to help adults solve the problems of technology integration and support. Students are there, they just need adults to teach them how to help, and then allow them to help.

And after all, aren’t these the 21st century skills everyone talks about? Like solving real problems, learning how to learn, collaboration, and communication? How real is the problem of technology integration, and how foolish of us to overlook students as part of the solution, especially when the reciprocal benefits to the students are so great.

Sylvia

PS – For a look at how these strategies can be applied in laptop schools, download my new whitepaper – Student Support of Laptop Programs. (16 page PDF)

Subscribe to the Generation YES Blog
Posted on

Quote for the day

“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of stones is a house.” – Poincaré 1905

Posted on

Off to Qatar

This week I’m off on a new adventure – I’m an invited speaker at the ICT Conference 2009: Exploring ICT in Education in Doha, Qatar. I’ve never worked in this part of the world and I’m looking forward to meeting new people from Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries. They’ve asked me to talk about games in education and of course, student voice and student involvement in technology integration to support education.

Qatar seems like a fascinating place, I’ve read up a bit about it (Wikpedia has a nice article) and I’m looking forward to learning more. The first thing I learned is that I didn’t even know how to pronounce it – I assumed it was “kah-TAR”, and it’s actually more like a cross between “gutter” and “cutter” although I’m sure that’s not exactly right either.

The country has a focus on education as their path to the future; these days looking beyond their oil revenues seems like a really smart policy.

Sylvia