Four-year-old meets the iPad

Four-year-old randson Miles is in love with Grandpa's "big iPad." Check out the whole body experience as, in his words, he "hogs" the device:

A few observations:

• Mile's nine-year-old big brother Paul is also a fan of the iPad (as is their dad). Paul can clearly and objectively analyze the pros an cons of the iPad vs. his DSI portable game system.
• The boys seem to make little distinction or preference between the iPad and iPod Touch.
• Despite downloading some "educational" apps, the games are the big draw - MonkeyBall, Labrynith, and PocketGod are popular with both boys on both. Talking Carl cracks Miles up since Carl will happily repeat bad words - "poop" is a favorite. The Toy Story "e-book" only got a passing glance despite its flashiness.
• There is no sense of old-teaching-young mentality. See Paul and Miles "teach" great grandpa Barney about this new device below. The boys, of course, needed no instruction at all in the rudiments of iPad/iPod use. (See Will Richardson's interesting comments about this here.)

• After three days, I have not seen any self-imposed limits set by the boys on the use of these devices. I honestly believe they would pick them up before breakfast and play with them until they went to bed without a break. Is there any hope of creating games that help students solve algebra problems or interpret a sonnet thay are as compelling as even the lamest iPod game of today?

Oh, before you brand me with the title "world's worst Grandpa," let me assure you that this Memorial Day visit has also included running through the sprinkler, BB gun target shooting, practice piloting Grandpa's boat, walks, bike rides, squirt gun fights, kite flying, seeing the new Shrek movie, and a trip to the zoo (with picnic). Oh, in the real world, not virtual!

Head for the Edge, 2009-10

My columns that appeared in Library Media Connection over this past year are now online.

800 Words, August/September 2009
Leadership or Management?, October/November 2009
Format Bigotry, November/December 2009
21st Century Libraries and 20th Century Schools, January/February 2010
Don't Confuse Social Networking with Educational Networking, March/April 2010
Gone Missing, May/June 2010

If you get a feeling of deja vu all over again when reading these, it's because some were blog entries in their larval stage.

If you are curious about the column and how it got started, the first one listed, "800 Words" gives some background.

And remember, all my writing has been approved by the FDA as a non-addictive sleep aid!

Outsourcing Mom

This is a response to Dr. Doug Green's guest post "Should we get rid of technology directors?" on the Dangerously Irrelevant blog. Read it first and come back. I can wait.

Dear Dr. Green,

Thank you so much for your timely questions about the necessity of a technology director in schools. In an era of budget cutting, higher accountability and more budget cutting, taking a hard look at all positions in public schools to see which can be eliminated through outsourcing or decentralizing responsibilities is critical if we are to do fiscal due diligence. 

Personally, I am doing everything I can to eliminate my technology director. He is also doing everything he can to eliminate his own position and doing a pretty good job of it - some of it even on purpose.

In fact, outsourcing efforts here at school have worked so well for us (food service, maintenance, insurance, payroll, online education, bus service, and soon all data services) , I am extending the concept to my personal life as well. I am preparing a proposal that I will be presenting at the next family board meeting that will result in significant cost reductions - the primary savings coming from eliminating the household position "wife/mom." Most duties currently performed by this position will be either outsourced or re-assigned*. The plan calls for:

• Requiring each of the children to cook his and her own meals, do his and her own shopping, do his or her own laundry and maintain assigned portions of the house and yard.
• Providing homework assistance  through on-line tutoring services.
• Supervising and transporting children will be outsourced to a nanny who, because of immigration status, is willing to work for less than minimum wage.
• Contracting moral guidance to a counseling service on an as-needed basis, with Oprah and Dr. Phil providing free day-to-day advice.
• Eliminating tuck in and good night kisses because they have not been empirically proven to impact mental health.
• Negotiating conjugal services with a local independent contractor.

On reflection, the position of "mom" has simply kept our children from accepting responsibility for tasks that should rightfully be theirs. Junior is already four years old and is not yet tying his own shoes and heaven knows when Susie will learn to sew her own clothes with all the moddly-coddling her mother gives her. Had my wife not been opening the door each time he whines, I am convinced the dog would by now have learned to use the door knob and let himself out.

Again, Dr. Green, I appreciate the insight you've provided into eliminating redundant positions in schools. I'll let you know how my plans work out - both at school and at home.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert "Crabby" Crabtree, Superintendent
Left Overshoe Public Schools
Left Overshoe MN

* Mom will receive training so that she can be "repurposed" in society. 

http://pbskids.org/arthur/friends/mom/index.html