Goals and Processess - Innovation and Integration

(PBS MEDIASHIFT)

A thought-provoking article from PBS MEDIASHIFT that raises issues that are confronting the school in its quest to prepare children for the century in which they will live and work.

Digital technology innovation and infusion in the curricula is about more than buying shiny new things and hoping that they make kids smarter. Its about the necessity for some fundamental changes in the way we view schools and the education of children.


(I hesitate to use the term "Disruption" because I believe that it's become a little over-used of late. Digital technologies are however, disruptive and challenge long-held norms and practices.)

"The systems and values of industrial education were not designed with innovation and digital tools in mind. Innovation, whether it's with technology, assessment or instruction, requires time and space for experimentation and a high tolerance for uncertainty. Disruption of established patterns is the modus operandi of innovation. We like the fruits of innovation, but few of us have the mettle to run the gauntlet of innovation."

  Teaching Innovation Is About More Than iPads in the Classroom

 by  Aran Levasseur, July 16, 2012

"The profusion of digital technology at work, home and everywhere in between is evident to even the most causal observer. In this climate, it's understandable why many schools are interested in technological integration and innovation. While it seems clear that students will increasingly be expected to be adept at using digital tools in their professional and personal lives, there isn't great clarity on how exactly these tools should be used. Often visions and goals are nebulous -- if they exist at all. We can't just buy iPads (or any device), add water, and hope that strategy will usher schools to the leading edge of 21st century education. Technology, by itself, isn't curative. Human agency shapes the path. 

In light of this dynamic, two critical questions need to be asked and provisionally answered when integrating technology into education. 

The first question, while obvious at first glance, isn't always fully articulated: "What are the educational goals of technology integration?"

The second question is equally important and often more elusive: "Do the current systems and processes support the integrative and innovative goals?" (read the entire article)

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Chrome Browser for IOS - first impressions

I've played a little with the new Chrome browser for IOS on iPhone 4S and iPad and it's generally a pretty positive experience.

 I didn't personally notice the speed differences referred to in the article. I probably will now that it's been pointed out to me but who knows?

 Chrome does a couple of things that Apple ought to have done with Safari for IOS: 

• The synching with other Chrome browsers is very nice. It's surprising that Safari hasn't already done this. Perhaps in 6. We'll see... 

• The major thing I noticed and liked was the way Chrome handles Tabs in the iPhone version. This also ought to have been implemented in Safari.

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From the Washington Post

Chrome for iOS: What you should know »

Google has just launched Chrome for iOS, the long-awaited browser replacement we've all been hoping for

You may read the entire article here

Dunno - Personal Research Assistant

Your own personal research assistant

iPad view

 Back when I was and undergrad at UC Berkeley, I had a work-study job as a lab assistant. One of my many jobs was to be available and when Dr. Valcana said "Go to such and such library and get me every article for the last three years on so and so." I ran and spent the rest of the afternoon rooting through journals. I found a wonderful app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS yesterday that performs that job for you while you do other things.


The app is called Dunno and is available at all of the Mac App Stores. I've only used it a couple of times but I am intrigued with its utility; particularly for writing blog posts, presentations, training documents, and a host of other uses.


The way it works is that you write a note about a subject you are researching in the box on the left-hand column and go away to do something else. Dunno does the leg work and sends push notifications (or not, your choice) when the research is completed. Articles, images, and other information it finds are displayed in a series of collapsible windows on the right side.

Dunno syncs in real-time across your devices so you can ask it to find information in the morning from your computer, check the results at lunch on your iPhone, and prepare a presentation in Keynote on your iPad later. The developer cautions that it's a work in progress and that features are being added and refined constantly.


Best part is that for now, it's Free. See more at: http://www.wedunno.com/desktop.html or search "Dunno" on the App Store.

more screenshots:

desktop version results window

desktop version detail window

iPhone screen

App Store page

Tablets are not laptops...

Tablet Technologies and Stages of Adoption

Just had a question from a teacher asking which was the best keyboard to use with a tablet. That started me thinking about the stages of adoption that I had read about in the research literature for other digital educational technologies. The first stage of adoption–and the one that many people never get past–is the stage where the new technology is substituted for a preceding one. This is seen often when Interactive White Boards are dropped into classrooms. The IWB becomes in essence, a substitute for the chalkboard and the overhead projector. Without conscious effort and in many cases, specific training, many people remain at the stage 1, substitution level and continue using a very expensive chalkboard.

It occurred to me when the teacher asked about keyboards, that she wanted her new tablet to become a laptop substitute rather than to think about the tablet as an entirely different tool for performing different types of tasks.

I thought about how my use of the tablet has evolved over the past two or so years. I use my iPad a lot and there are some areas of overlap. I did for example, use it with a bluetooth keyboard to produce a presentation for a seminar I was in. This was a conscious decision on my part. I set out to research, create, and present this presentation completely from the tablet and the exercise was successful. It did however make me think that while the tablet worked fine in this instance, it wasn't the best tool for this particular task.

My teacher's question made me think carefully about the idea that a tablet is not a smartphone, it's not a laptop, it's not a desktop... it's a tablet. There are things that it does better than other devices in certain circumstances and there are some tasks for which it's just not well-suited. 

It is time to take my tablet use to the next stage of adoption.

Research Tools in Google Docs

Research Tools extend Google Docs capabilities

Research tool - Link to Google Docs support page

The Research tool makes it easy to add information from the web to your documents. To access the tool:

• Select the Research option from the Tools menu.
• Use the keyboard shortcut (Cmd + Opt + R on Mac, Ctrl + Alt + R on PC).
• Right-click on a specific word and select Research.

The Research tool will appear along the right-hand side of your document. You can start a search by typing into the search bar. You can narrow your search to specific types of results (e.g. images, quotations) by using the drop-down menu in the search bar.

Researching different types of information relevant to your document

When conducting a search, the Research tool will show you different types of results — web results, images, quotations, maps, reviews, and more.
Use the back arrow to the left of the search bar to return to the previous page of your search results and the forward arrow to move forward in your search results.
Follow the instructions below to explore search results relevant to your document.

Web results

Under the web results category, you’ll find a number of websites related to your search. If you select one of these results, you’ll see several options:

• Select Preview to see a preview of the website. Click on the site link at the top of the preview pane to open this page in a separate window, or select Close at the bottom of the pane to close the preview.
• Select Insert link to add a link to the website into the body of your document.
• Select Cite to create a footnote citation of this web result within the body of your document.

Images

Images will appear in the general search, as well as an image search. Narrow your search results to only images by selecting “Images” from the drop-down menu in the search bar.

Quotations

Narrow your search results to only quotations by selecting “Quotes” from the drop-down menu in the search bar. Once you have selected the quotation you’d like to use in your document, click Insert to add it to your document with a footnote citation.

Places

When conducting a search in the Research tool for a geographic location, your search results may include a map. You can edit this map by selecting Edit and then zooming in/out or dragging the map. Once you have the exact map image you’d like to include in your document, click Insert. You can also drag and drop the map image into your document.

Cellphones/Smartphones in the Classroom

From Mind/Shift

Interesting article about exploring the possibilities once we reject the mindset that makes us want to ban everything that students find useful...

May 10, 2012 | 1:23 PM | By Tina Barseghian

How Teachers Make Cell Phones Work in the Classroom

"When we talk about using cell phones in class, we’re not just talking about using cell phones in class. 

The idea of mobile learning touches on just about every subject that any technology addresses: social media, digital citizenship, content-knowledge versus skill-building, Internet filtering and safety laws, teaching techniques, bring-your-own-device policies, school budgets. 

At its core, the issues associated with mobile learning get to the very fundamentals of what happens in class everyday. At their best, cell phones and mobile devices seamlessly facilitate what students and teachers already do in thriving, inspiring classrooms. Students communicate and collaborate with each other and the teacher. They apply facts and information they’ve found to formulate or back up their ideas. They create projects to deepen their understanding, association with, and presentation of ideas." (read the entire article)

Storify story embedded...

Storify in a blog post...

Just playing around with some of the( features of Storify. I'm not too familiar with using it so I wanted to try out some of the things it can do... (when do you thinks Storify will pick up on the fact that Flash has died and gone to proprietary software heaven?)

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