Random Thoughts

Haven't done this for a while. Just jotting down a few observations.

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I dropped my laptop a few weeks ago going through airport security and it has since had a thumbprint-sized dead space on the right hand side of the screen. Here's the thing - why is the black space always exactly where I need to see what is beneath it? Is this a clever plot to make sure I spend $350 for a new LCD panel? (Oh, make that almost $700 to have the local authorized Apple dealer make the repair. Doesn't Apple know I can buy a brand new Dell for $700?)

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It's time to retire the term "thinking outside the box." I cringe when I hear it. If we knew we were in a box, wouldn't we not just try to think outside of it, but actually climb outside it?

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When my daughter came home from school angry because she could not understand the purpose of why she was being forced to learn something (the quadratic equation or the significance of the Hundred Years War, come to mind), this is how I explained school:

School is a sorting mechanism to determine who will play the game society demands we play. School determines who will delay gratification, who will listen to authority without much heavy duty questioning; and who will go along to get along. It's a way for the established power structure to weed out the trouble makers. You can take a chance and  choose to be a trouble maker, quit school and do your own thing.  And your fate will be either be a multimillionaire or a bitter bum. School is not about teaching and learning facts or skills, but seeing who is willing to forego one's own needs for the greater good of the established social order. Up to you.

Despite the lip service being paid to career education, 21st century learning, NCLB, etc. education is still more about EQ and who chooses to use it. We are truly and greatly afraid of those who do not to conform and education protects us from those scary people.

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 Politics is starting to have an impact my pleasure reading. Based on an NPR recommendation, I bought the latest Michael Crichton novel, Next, despite his last novel, State of Fear, reading like a policy statement for the Bush administration on global warming. I had nearly decided never to read another Crichton. I put a Kyle Mills book back in the rack when I saw Rush Limbaugh's positive blurb for it. I was deeply saddened to read that Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt not only got married, but that his wife is a Republican senator. Cussler's last few "adventures" have been really bad (or worse) anyway.  He needs to contract his writing out to more skillful contractors.

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Question of the week (so far):

Okay, I KNOW you warn us not to open emails from people we don’t know, and usually, I follow that to the letter.  This one made it through my junk filter somehow, and it looks appealing enough to open.  I would appreciate your professional opinion on whether or not I dare to click on the attachment. 

Bang. Bang. Bang. That is the sound my head makes hitting the wall. 

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On a related note, the worst spam subject heading last week was "Double the size of your weenie." Marketing to kindergarteners now? That was the last time I remember referring to a body part as a "weenie."  

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Ok, all that is off my chest. I can get on with life. Thanks for listening.

Danger of the Digital Age

An email with the subject line "Danger of the Digital Age" sent  12/7/06 7:50 PM goes to show that not every young person is a technology enthusiast...

Hi Doug,

I just finished reading "Dangers and Opportunities: Challenges for Libraries in the Digital Age" and I felt compelled to send you a message. I'm 18 years old, attending  ...  College in  ... Canada. I'm in my first year going into the profession of teaching and majoring in English.

The role of future technology in the classroom scare me. I just finished a required course .... which is about technology integration in the classroom. The textbook describes many things that you talked about in the paper to do with digital backpacks, internet watches, etc. The e-book is my greatest fear. My goal is to teach junior high Language Arts and I have some personal goals in mind to satisfy technological requirements (which are now in the curriculum and known as ICT objectives) but at the same time teach my future students how to be human, as opposed to the walking robots that the textbook describes.  I dream of my classroom as being a place where I can instil my passion for handwriting and reading into the minds of my class.

I remember learning how to handwrite in grade 4, and that was the last I ever heard of it. By junior high my peers were quited in saying that they had forgotten about handwriting, let alone how to handwrite. I want to take time in class at the end of the day to write journals, in response to critical thinking questions, that will be handwritten. If my students need help with their handwriting then I will help them.

I cannot stand being classified into the Internet generation, or the digital generation or whatever they're calling us now. I'm still trying to figure out my own personal ethics towards technology, but it is definitely leaning towards less computers, more books, and no I-pods or cellphones.

In light of this frightening technology evolution I see teaching as the most important profession of now and the future. I have the opportunity to shape young minds into being passionate about good things and to question new tech gadgets and material goods as the best things going. For this reason, I can't wait to start teaching.

What kind of things can I do now to help save writing and books? Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.
 
sincerely,
Jesse ...

Hi Jesse,

Thanks so much for taking the time to write. I am curious how you found my “Dangers and Opportunities” paper – I had a hard time locating it myself! But I am glad you did.

Good luck on your English studies. I was an English major as well and even taught junior high language arts for 5 years, but I have still managed to retain some small degree of respectability and keep a roof over my family’s head. There is hope in your vocational course.

I don’t share your concern, necessarily, about e-books. In fact, I am really looking forward to day of the practical, affordable e-book reader. Perhaps I am not thinking deeply enough, but does one really gain less by reading a fine Margaret Atwood novel on electronic paper rather than on a cellulose page?  We need to be careful not to confuse the substance with the format, despite McLuhan’s admonition that “the medium is the message.” I state a number advantages to a mature e-book reader here.

Having never had good handwriting and finding keyboarding and the word processor indispensable to my own writing tasks, I’m afraid I don’t share your concern about penmanship either. But others will argue that a handwritten piece differs from that composed on a screen. Perhaps. But to me the difference is not as great as that between the writer who has had good instruction in basic composition, sentence structure, vocabulary, style, etc. and the writer who has not. The difference is not as great between the writer who writes often, purposely, and joyfully as the one who does not. Nor is the difference as great between the writer who has found a personal voice and one who has not.

In my observations of the “net generation” students and their use of technology is that the technology allows them to be more, not less human. The cell phones, social networking sites, chats, IMing, and networked game play allow kids to be more, not less social. Certainly not the “walking robots,” you fear. But YES, always question new gadgets. Learn to use the gadgets to accomplish your deeper goals – co-opt them! (Might your students actually listen to you as a podcast?)

I suspect this was not the response for which you were hoping. Happy to continue the conversation. I am going to share your very interesting letter on my blog with your name and school affiliation removed. If you have an objection to that, please let me know.

Thanks for writing and all the very best,

Doug

And your advice to Jesse? 

Getting back in the groove - TIES helped

I'm having a very tough time mentally re-engaging with work, professional reading, and writing since Thanksgiving. Too much turkey, perhaps. The blogosphere and the professional journals seem to have gone into intellectual re-runs, or at least most writers seem to be playing variations on a theme. This observation, I'm sure, says much more about my personal mindset than the quality or topics of others' writings.

So it was good to have attended the TIES conference last Monday up in Minneapolis. (It's our "state" educational technology conference.) First time since I don't know when that I went only as a participant and not a presenter, since I didn't get my ducks in a row submitting a proposal. Just attending was sort of relaxing, actually.  I should do it more often. Anyway, a few highlights for me:

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Milt Dougherty opened with the keynote. The big take-a-way for me was a chart he showed dividing students into four quadrants: the authentically engaged; the artificially engaged (going through the motions); the disengaged; and the rebellious.  (These terms are from memory and he had a source I did not get written down, thinking I could find his handouts online. If anyone has a better recollection of this or knows how to get the handouts, please let me know.)

Is there a way we can actually measure "engagement?" How do we in tie it to achievement? As a profession do we simply see engagement as a prima facie good? Those of us in technology especially talk a lot about it as a primary reason for technology. Is it enough?

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I was disappointed in  the presentation made by the Gaggle.net representative. Instead of an informative demonstration of his product, he turned the session into a "let's scare the educators into using our product" exercise. Gaggle.net is a great product; the threat of lawsuits and other terrorist tactics simply aren't necessary to get people to use it.  The presentation lowered my opinion of the company.

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Treating the same topic in a much more positive and focused manner, Dave Eisenmann and Kim Hoehne from the Minnetonka Public Schools gave an outstanding presentation on the efforts their district is making to educate students, teachers, and especially parents on tech "dangers" kids are facing - everything from cell phone as cheat aid to online pornography (production as well as consumption) to social networking misuse to video game "values."  

 Some sites mentioned during the talk:

•  Minnetonka Parent Education links to Online Safety information.
  Internet Archives:  The Wayback Machine: Just because you took that embarrassing picture off your MySpace account, doesn't mean that it doesn't still exist - somewhere in cyberspace. Frightening.
  NetLingo's Top 20 Internet Acronyms Every Parent Needs to Know.
• David Walsch's MediaWise web resources (What parents need to watch (out) for in video games, advertisements, movies, etc.  

 So OK, now I am feeling really guilty for not doing more here in Mankato with our parents and community.

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In his lunchtime talk, "Can Schools Regulate Cyberbullying, Harassment and Social Networking?", Dr. Scott McLeod from the U of Minnesota presented 6 case studies of schools attempting to regulate student online speech. Guess what?  The schools lost 5 of the 6 cases when they disciplined a student for the production of off-site web content - much of it quite nasty.  Can you say, Tinker vs Des Moines? Duh. Scott's PowerPoint and podcast for the session are available here.

He also addressed a school's ability to regulate/discipline employees' online speech. Sounds like if your blog gives your supervisor a headache, disciplinary action is OK. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my district, my boss, my job???

As always, Scott did an outstanding job with both content and his lively presentation style.

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 After publicly fussing about there not being an affordable and robust computer especially designed for students this fall, I thought I better go see what the Nova 5000 was all about. This machine is definitely a step in the right direction: rugged, lots of input/output options, basic productivity software built in and wireless connectivity. I am uncertain about the screen size, its battery life is still only 4 hours and its price (quoted at $600 plus $200 for an added 3 year warrantee) is still double what I really want to pay (you can buy a "real" laptop for this amount.) But it is the most exciting piece of hardware I saw at this conference - actually at any conference for the past few years. We are ordering one for evaluation purposes here. My goal is a sustainable 1:1 computing environment in this district before I retire or am fired or am committed or go into hiding. I see glimmers of hope.