Skoshee

The Notion of the "Digital Divide"

2009-02-19T20:01:00.000-08:00

The issue of equity with regard to technology is daunting. Steve Langford, CIO of the Beaverton School District, shared his own frustration with how to move a large district into a place of greater equity. What would it look like if there was equity in schools with technology? What would the teachers look like -- their background/experience with technology/ability to integrate technology meaningfully into their teaching? Do schools have the same needs with regard to technology? Should some have more than others? How would you determine who might be more worthy of extra technology? How can we avoid going to the "least common denominator" with a simplified interpretation of equity? Might we dilute the quality for many for the sake of equity for teachers/schools uninterested in technology? Are test scores the bottom line? Or ? How might we also fan the flames of our innovators and those schools and teachers who will help lead and teach us all? How can we maneuver through the politics of equity? Do people really believe there should be equity? What might we do to move people towards the understanding of the importance of equity? Thanks, Steve, for being real and honestly sharing with us how you continue to wrestle with this critical issue.

Designing Web Sites

2009-02-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a feel for the traits of desirable web sites such as simplicity, excellent photo images, a clear navigation system, a personalized touch. We are revamping our web site this summer and after critiquing it tonight it's a good thing! I'm thrilled to say that tonight I created my first web page ever...I've written the content for many a web page but until now I'd never actually done it myself. I love the idea of adding a short, powerful video "teaser" and think I have something that could be used as part of the web site I created today on our school's sustainability curriculum work. Yee-hah!

Future Predictions from a Techie Guy

2009-02-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

Paul Navarre, a web developer/programmer, was our guest speaker today. Notions that stood out for me included:
*Technology is just a TOOL -- not the goal. Sometimes I think we view technology as a body unto itself...
*In the next ten years the content management systems (such as Moodle, Drupal, Joomla) will take off. We have a Moodle/Drupal system on our school's web site and our own use of this tool has truly grown exponentially. Parents can now watch our school's "Community Meetings," listen to the students sing and perform, view student poetry, etc. Students can log in and listen to recordings of phrases in Mandarin Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish to assist them in their homework for their language classes. We are only tapping the surface of how this can be applied...
*User-generating content, such as You Tube and Wikipedia will also take off in the next ten years. How might this look for elementary age students, I wonder?
*I asked Paul how he learns; clearly in his work he needs to keep current which is no small feat with the changing world of technology. I found it intriguing that Paul learns "on his own." We all work to make sure our students know how to collaborate; perhaps it is equally as important that they learn to research, read and learn using the internet independently.

Technology Skeptic?

2009-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Tonight our group responded to the first few pages of Transforming Schools with Technology by Andrew Zucker. The notion that "We are teaching a generation of digital natives, and they think differently than we do" resonated with me. Is it having more experience and application for various electronics that makes our youngsters so adept at technological toys? Is it the attitude that "I can figure that out"? Or is it a difference in the brain and how one thinks about all these gadgets due to earlier exposure?
It is certainly humbling to continually be reminded that I am (and probably always will be) an immigrant to this world of technology. This week I decided to take on the installation of my new GPS system in my car. Of course I started by reading the manual. It was amazing to realize that the author(s) assumed those of us reading the directions would already have many prerequisites in place that I didn't know. For me, it was not particularly user-friendly -- however, I persevered. And then I reached the page that told how you could connect your cell phone to the GPS system. I kept reading to figure out why one might want/need to do this extra installation; it was assumed that you would want to do this. Can anyone tell me why I might want to do this?!!!!

2009-01-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

Humbled by New Delhi's "Hole in the Wall" Project
Listening to Sugata Mitra's presentation about the relationship of technology and the remoteness of an area from an urban population center brought me back to vivid memories of my month in India not-so-long-ago. When I sat listening to excited educators chatting about the worn out computers embedded in a colorful wall in the slum just down the road from the American Embassy in New Delhi and directly across the street from the American School I went into sensory overload. I loved the energy of the children as they pecked at the computers. But it didn't take long for my eyes to wander towards the utter poverty and despair around me. There were ten toilets for the slum of 4,000 people. Children weren't in school and parents weren't at work. There were flies in the eyes of the youngsters who were poorly fed and clothed. Young girls were carrying muddy water. The stench was intoxicating. We learned that a young woman was hired part-time to monitor the computer usage. The spokesman was terribly proud that there had been no "pornography hits." He found it interesting that "mostly boys" accessed the computers.
The cost of the "Hole in the Wall" project was several thousand dollars per year. But the cost of a single child to have an education was only a few hundred. Having visited a number of schools as part of a "Diversity Delegation" learning how India was addressing its diversity challenges that included racial, ethnic, language, socio-economic, religious and gender differences, I couldn't help but question the priority of three computers -- in English, no less, although the students did not speak English -- with these children.

It's a Love/Hate Thing!

2009-01-15T19:40:00.000-08:00

I love that technology connects me to the world so easily. Need to find directions? Grab it from mapquest.com! Want to get in touch with a colleague in another state? E-mail is right there! And word processing is great; my fingers can fly across the keyboard at 80 wpm and I can draft my thoughts so easily, worrying about editing later.

But I do not have "THE KNACK" to figure out the world of technology intuitively. I get lost in programs, feel unsure about why some documents seem to save so easily and others seem lost in a kingdom that is totally abstract and mysterious to me. I was disgusted that my iPod stopped working until one of my 10-year-old students noticed that the volume simply needed to be turned up. I admit that I am humbled daily by my young students who seem to be natives to the computer world. Will I always be an immigrant?