Missing the Boat Once Again

This post could also be titled, "Does The Device Really Matter?" more on that later...

A recent tweet linking to this article really got me fired up today. Not because of the technology, but because of what I see as a vision for technology that has missed the boat.

I'm not going to get into the have-have not debate of private vs. public education. This is a purely unsolicited comment about the article. The school that has decided to pilot iPads in the classroom is Morristown Beard School. The headmaster should be praised for making a decision to try out the iPads, a new device that has turned heads wherever it goes. It was the "it device" at ISTE this year!

Where this article turns sour for me are the comments made about not choosing laptops which to Alex Curtis create a communication barrier...

"When the clamshell comes up, it's literally a barrier between the teacher and student,'' Curtis said. "That barrier does get in the way. You want eye contact.

Curtis loses me here with a flawed argument that laptops are a barrier to learning. I think it's 100 year old teaching/delivery methods that are barrier to learning!

A number of things come up when considering this quote. (These generalizations are in reference to Curtis and his mindset and perception of technology in education, and not the teachers at the school. It sure would be neat to talk to one of them after this announcement though!)

1. If the laptops are a barrier to eye contact, how are students learning? Does Mr. Curtis have visions of laptops creating walls between a teacher lecturing at the front while students furiously take notes from a Powerpoint presentation laden with paragraphs of text on each slide? IF this is the case he's missed the boat. I've personally ignored teachers lecturing by setting up my textbook in front of me. This is nothing new.

2. What is the physical environment of the classes in his school? Are they all in rows? Are they engaged in project based learning looking at "Big Questions"? It doesn't matter what the students are using, because if they aren't working and investigating together, then the iPad, laptop, netbook or desktop is a glorified paperweight.

3. How are teachers being supported in their own learning? Taking officials to Cupertino to see how the iPads can be used in the curriculum is one thing. The front line teachers using them is another thing. I just hope that some teachers got to go on that trip! If not, they've missed the boat.

Where are they on point? In the second half I am hopeful after reading about the geosciences teacher who comments that [the iPad is]:

"a new tool and when you change your mindset and see it as an extra resource, then it becomes exciting to think about how it opens up new avenues.''

In the end, it doesn't matter what the tool. We didn't go crazy when a student showed up to class with a pen or pencil, mechanical or wood did we? I'm hopeful that this school will perhaps give their students the option of a laptop, netbook or iPad in the future.

After year one of our own laptop project in my school I share the belief with many that the cost of devices and student saturation will soon mean that any device should be able to be brought into a school to be used as a learning tool. I understand that when initiative like this the new and exciting district officials and principals want to publicize them as cutting edge and innovative. Let's just make sure that they are reminded not to miss the boat with the intent of technology integration.

What are your takes on the article?

Image courtesy of motionblur on Flickr

iPad as a Tool in Education- Edubloggercon 2010

My first trip to Edublogger con was great and disappointing all in one day. After wading through and walking away from the conversations about wikis, I took on iPads as an educational device.

The organizer of the discussion chose to go ahead and examine the iPad's size, weight and specs. This was something that we all knew and was a complete waste of time. His intention was to spend 10 minutes on the physical structure, and he was true to his word. My colleague, Terry Kaminski even tried to steer the conversation to the apps and teaching with it, and was told that was coming, let's talk about the screen size. #fail

Next the apps were discussed and people shared which one they were using to take notes with and check Twitter with. I shared how I think the app TaptoTalk would be great on the iPad for non verbal special needs students because often there are fine motor skills that need help as well. The size of the iPad is perfect for special ed!

The most entertaining aspect of the discussion was how the educators in the room banded together against "the tech guy" who kept going on about the security of the device and how it could be authenticated on his networks, but not without great difficulty, and that netbooks were the cost effective answer. He clearly was alone in his thinking.

Finally the talk went to teaching with the iPad, and from my observations the jury is still out on this one. Many praised it for it ability to be what the kids would love to use, but few have experience with it over a period of time in the class. If a student showed up with one this coming September I would be happy to try and make it work. With HTML 5 coming soon, I would hope Google Apps and other cloud programs would work better on the iPad. It's almost like it's ahead of it's time by 9 months.

Another issue that came up was synching and getting apps loaded on the devices (if you had a class set). This is a big concern due to the user agreements that restrict each purchase of the app to only one installation on one iPad, and how to synch many devices with many purchases of a single app. Hey, most of these awesome apps are under 5 bucks and as teachers we don't mind paying a small amount 30 times for a class set as long as it's easy to do.

So do I have an iPad? The answer is no. The reason? There are 2. First and foremost I have a lot of gadgets and my wife would kill me if I bought another one this year. Also, I wanted the camera in version 1, but it won't be there until version 2 or later. Think of the amazing possibilities for students to video blog, take video and edit it in an iPad specific version of iMovie, use iChat (Facetime) and Skype to work with other student around the world, the list goes on and on. I'm a media arts teacher and so anything that takes video and allows me to edit it and post it within a short amount of time is golden to me.

Ideally the iPad will transform from a media consuming device to a media creating device with newer versions. This is why the iPhone 4 is so attractive as a viable video camera and editing solution in one. If you need proof, watch this video filmed entirely on an iPhone 4 and except for some audio, edited entirely on it as well! No camera for me is a serious misgiving of version 1. I guess that's easy to say from my point of view as I sit here on a Macbook and type on the old keys!

I took the last 10 minutes of the conversation as where we should have been from the beginning: looking at the iPad as another tool students are going to show up with and want to use. We need to be ready for it and allow it on our wireless networks! Overall the device is so new that I don't think anyone fully knows how it can be used as a tool in education.

How could it be used in your teaching?

Wikis Dying? Not Likely

I had a great day at Edublogercon. I love the format. As a newb, I've known about it since the first one, but I'm as fresh as a daisy this year.

The original title of this blog was going to be "The Fan Boi Stuff Has to Stop". I sat on the post for a night and then thought about changing my title. Here is what I originally wrote. I left it here because part of me still feels very strongly about the topic of wikis in the classroom:

My favourite quote from the event was that we are not to be in awe of anyone. It was commented we should not feel intimidated or fearful to go up to talk to any of those who we admire so much because of their contributions to education and ed blogging. This is awesome!

Then I went to the "Are wikis dying session".

I voted with my feet on this one. After a few minutes I found that there was this Wikispaces fan boi-ism that was going on. Before I go any further, let it be said, I could be seen as a hypocrite here because of my own fan boi tendencies. I do have an Apple tattoo after all.

So there it is. My first impression of the session was that it was a bunch of people who were sucking up to the Wikispaces founders. And partially it was. It appeared to be a shameless opportunity for Wikispaces to do some market research and plug their product. And why didn't people say this is what sucks about wikis? Why didn't anyone mention pbworks or other wiki prodivers? Maybe I should have stayed longer. But you have to look on the bright side of things, right?

Positive discussions ensued about the process of introducing other peers to wikis and their uses. One person hit the nail on the head by mentioning that we might even have more success with wikis with newbs in schools if we show them Google Apps first. I agree with this entirely. There are few better ways to introduce a rookie to web tools than Google Apps.

Perhaps my favourite comment was from Jeff Utecht who said " A wiki with four attachments is just a web page with links. A wiki is about allowing people to collaborate and create content around a specific purpose or idea." Go read his blog about wikis. I have often fallen into the trap of saying I'm using a wiki for my classes, but in reality it's just a way to disseminate information and links to my students. I will be very mindful of this now because of this session.

Are wikis dying? No, I think they are still one of the most flexible web tools that we have at our disposal today. I will continue to use them as a communication tool and as a tool for student learning.