Teacher Bytes

I am tired but happy to be back with my family after returning from the 2009 South Carolina Educational Technology Conference in Myrtle Beach. The last three days have been a whirl of learning, connecting with old friends, and making new ones. Here are some of my thoughts and observations of the time I spent in Myrtle Beach in no particular order.

The biggest trend coming over the horizon is the use of mobile phones in the classroom. While this might not be a new idea, I believe many educators are rethinking their stance on their use. Okay, it not breaking news that almost every student has a mobile phone these days. However, instead of taking them away maybe we need to look at how we can use these devices in the classroom. Today’s cellphones are essentially mini-computers. They can access vast amounts of information from the Internet and kids could probably type essays using their thumbs faster than writing them on paper. Of course rules would have to be set governing their use. With budget cuts reducing the availability of more computers in the classrooms this is an idea with more study.

Speaking of budget cuts and the economy, attendance was way down this year. Many of my friends around the state were not able to come. Vendors did not have the usual cool “schwag” you usually see at the conference. This could be a blessing in disguise. I had the pleasure of meeting many new people who I now communicate with over Twitter. Since the vendors did not have much to offer, there seemed to be more participation in the sessions.

I have challenged people to show me a serious educational use for Facebook I would consider it. Nobody took me up on my challenge until I saw how a USC-Sumter Economics professor used Facebook groups to extend class discussions to the popular social network site. The professor also used her groups on Facebook to give out class information too. I was so impressed I created a Facebook group for my school.

Congratulations to my good friends Mary Ann Sansonettie and Chris Craft on receiving the Making it Happen Award. This award was deserved to two educators who are passionate about using technology in teaching. Both educators are a great inspiration to me personally.

Hopefully, I will be back next year to help solve the great mystery which will be the theme for next year. Until then, I will be exploring many of the things I learned at this years conference. I hope to see everyone in Myrtle Beach next year.

There is a new book I plan on reading in the near future entitled The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future by Mark Bauerlein, an English Professor at Emory University. The author purportedly claims a generation of our young people (anyone under 30) are so busy with technology they are not reading, not engaging in civic issues, and do not have a solid work ethic. This is the opposite of an enlightenment expected with the coming of technology. This is from the review on Amazon.com. I will withhold judgment until I have read the book.

A blog post by Stefanie Olsen on CNET’s News.com has some evidence that might poke holes in Professor Bauerlein’s research. Some Silicon Valley teens gathered together at the Teens in Tech confab to share how they are using technology to start businesses and do charitable work. Here are a few examples of what some participants have accomplished. Anshal Samar, 14, has invented the fantasy-chemistry education card game Elementeo and hopes to sell 50,000 sets and is well on his way to becoming a millionaire before entering high school. There is also Sejal Hathi, 16, who founded Girls Helping Girls, a nonprofit group hoping to inspire young women around the world to bring social change in their communities. So much for no work ethic or civic responsibility.

What technology are these teens using? Facebook because of its better layout and professional look. They still prefer e-mail but have not caught on to Twitter. All of the participants worry about their privacy and take steps to protect it. While the participants admitted to not being able to read as much as they would like outside of school related materials, they did say they kept up with news online. One thing they do regret is the fact they don’t have as much time to build personal relationships because of their work or use of Facebook or other social networking sites but understand personal relationships are important.

Ms. Olsen does point something out that makes me wonder if Professor Bauerlein’s book may be premature. The attitudes about using technology responsibly is coming from parents. Silicon Valley is one of the technology centers of the world so its inhabitants are probably very tech savvy. This knowledge of how things work on the Internet is passed on to their children. In other words, responsible adults who understand how technology works are taking time to instruct their children properly and it works. The cover of the book says not to trust anyone under 30 (funny coming from someone who proably said not to trust anyone over thirty once upon a time) but when I read Professor Bauerlein’s book it would not surprise me that he makes another argument supporting the idea of the Technology Natives/Technology Immigrants divide.

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Yesterday for my Podcasting Class, I sat down and recorded my first podcast in months. There were many reasons I put it off but it boiled down to laziness. I would tell myself I just don’t have a good place to do it where I would have no interruptions. Yesterday, I just sat down, started the record function on my Sansa Clip and went at it. Here are the show notes with links.

Kid-Cast.com: A kid-friendly site for students to upload their own podcasts. All podcasts are reviewed before they are put on the site.

Blog post “Should Video Games Replace Classroom Learning?” Nice post by Andy Carvin in his Learning.now blog about a discussion at South By Southwest Interactive on whether gaming should replace traditional classroom teaching.

Another Andy Carvin blog post on Learning.now about a student who was expelled for using Facebook to do an assignment.

Adobe has released Photoshop Express online.

An ARS Technica post about where online safety belongs. The article argues it should start at the home.

Brazil and Chicago are moving along with plans to place technology into the hands of students without waiting for the OLPC.

Imagine the power to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people to your cause? How could you do it? Yesterday, February 4th, millions of Colombians around the world protested the violent actions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia aka FARC. How were organizers from a South American country able to rally so many in less than three weeks to a cause the mainstream press rarely mentions? The answer is the social networking site Facebook.

Miss Veronica, our Colombian Bi-lingual Liaison at our school , proudly wore a t-shirt in the colors of the Colombian flag protesting FARCS actions. On the back of that shirt is a picture of her grandfather who was kidnapped by FARC rebels over 13 years ago. The group was started in 1964 by Colombian Communists. Today, FARC uses kidnapping, terrorist tactics, and illegal drug smuggling to finance and bring attention to their cause.

I assigned students in my Web Media Communications class to interview Ms. Veronica about the protest for our class show. During their research, the team noticed Facebook was used to turn this protest into a worldwide event. Recently social networking sites are constantly maligned in the press again for a variety of reasons, usually causing some harm to children. However, it should be noted how one social networking site was used to communicate to millions of people the call to show Colombia they are not alone in their struggle to maintain peace and justice in a country with a perception of lawlessness. This use of Facebook will not go unnoticed as political campaigns, activist groups, and businesses will see the benefits of social networking sites to rally people. Schools too could use social networking sites to rapidly distribute information and seek support whenever needed.