Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS
By Robert Plants
Editor, Schools for the 21st Century
[Note: This article was first posted as a comment on Bonnie Bracey Sutton‘s “What Should Pres. Obama Do About Educational Reform?” by Robert Plants on 3 August 2010. -js]
This may sound a bit scattered so forgive me in advance. When Obama became President, I was excited to see who he would name to his cabinet post on education. When he named Arne Duncan, I almost immediately closed the book on my hopes for real educational change. I lived in Chicago during the time Obama was a rising star, and I can tell you that the city’s public schools were not that spiffy. I believe it was during this time that a scandal arose over the discovery of hundreds of computers that were stored but never ended up in schools. These were bought using the old E-Rate program. So Mr. Duncan to me is no better than any other big city education bureaucrat — a bad choice. Continue reading →
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Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS
(Note: I wrote a related article in January 2009. -ja)
In a recent article, I said that education reform begins with people changing their fundamental beliefs about student ability. I said that if you believe students do not have the ability to succeed, then the fair and just path is to help them get through school by bringing school down to their level. If you instead believe, as I do, that these students do have the ability to succeed, then the fair and just path is to use instructional approaches that bring them up to high standards of performance. Here is a true story that may illustrate the problem. Continue reading →
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Posted on August 3, 2010 by JimS
By Tom Preskett
When you think about the various options for using technology in teaching and learning, there is a stark contrast between those that come from the Web 2.0 movement, which are often free and easy to use, and those that come from the commercial software companies, which are often expensive and cumbersome. Overall, you can also draw a pedagogical dividing line between these two areas — acquisition or participation.
Acquisition is all about preserving what we have, transmitting the knowledge in the way we have done in formal education. I’m talking here about web conferencing systems, Learner Management Systems (I mean the core products, not the added-on interactive stuff), lecture capture systems. They are complex, bandwidth heavy, and usually accompanied by a manual or require expensive training and support. Continue reading →
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Posted on August 2, 2010 by JimS
By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction
[Note: This article was first posted as a comment on Bonnie Bracey Sutton‘s “What Should Pres. Obama Do About Educational Reform?” by John Adsit on 2 August 2010. -js]
The “Framework” document rightly calls for using proven effective methods of instruction. In recent columns and comments, I have written about this very topic. There have been enough examples of schools that have turned around and made great strides in achievement for us to know what those proven methods are. The mystery is this: Why aren’t those methods used in more than occasional instances?
The reason is that there is a conspiracy toward mediocrity, and using proven methods of excellence shatters that conspiracy, and anyone with the audacity to use these methods faces the wrath of all other members of that conspiracy. Continue reading →
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Posted on August 1, 2010 by JimS
By Bonnie Bracey Sutton
Editor, Policy Issues
[Updated 8.2.10 – links added: “A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act”; “In the News: More Opposition to Duncan’s Reform Policies: Defending Obama’s Education Agenda”; “Our Communities Left Behind: An Analysis of the Administration’s School Turnaround Policies.” -bbs/js]
The problem that President Obama is having should be addressed. I think he is between a rock and a hard place in his efforts to change the face of education. What do you, our ETCJ readers, writers, and editors, think he should do?
To post your comment, click on the title of this article and scroll down to the comment box. To start the discussion, here are a few documents that you might want to read:
Valerie Strauss, “Obama, Education, Snooki, Civil Rights and Bryan Bass” (The Answer Sheet, Washington Post, 30 July 2010): The president’s “terribly misguided $4.35 billion competitive grant program is, apparently, more important than health care reform, the economic recovery program, improving the student loan program, increasing Pell Grant payouts, and, well, anything else he has accomplished since becoming president.” Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: and Schott Foundation for Public Education, Civil Rights and Bryan Bass, Education, Education Reform, Framework for Providing All Students an Opportunity to Learn Through Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Inc., Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Action Network, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Council for Educating Black Children, National Urban League, National Urban League Centennial Conference, Obama, Pell Grant, President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Remarks by the President, Remarks by the President on Education Reform at the National Urban League Centennial Conference, Snooki, The Answer Sheet, Valerie Strauss, Washington Post | 4 Comments »
Posted on July 31, 2010 by JimS
By Steve Eskow
Editor, Hybrid vs. Virtual Issues
In the United States the box is often 20′ by 30′, 600 square feet. It is furnished with 30 tablet arm chairs that encourage the sitting students to write. In front of the box there may be a lectern, which encourages the standing instructor to say things which the students can write.
There are other boxes in the building. One is called the “lecture hall.” The “campus” is a collection of such boxes, boxes of different sizes and configurations which allow and encourage variations in the kind of speaking and writing that goes on within them.
Some of the boxes have the new communication technologies. It is the dream of innovating teachers and administrators and educational agencies that these new tools can “blend” with the old tools of talk and books and thus transform education.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: intellectualocentric, Pierre Bourdieu, Winston Churchill | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 30, 2010 by JimS
By Harry Keller
Editor, Science Education
[Note: The following article was originally posted by Harry Keller on 30 July 2010 as a reply to Robert Plants‘s “Computer Science – A Field of Dreams.” -js]
The statement, “Our faculty in the schools of education have the expertise to continue to produce the same teachers for the same curricula, but they lack any expertise to produce teachers for STEM related subjects…” rings true. An insufficient number of science teachers understand science. It’s not really their fault for they haven’t had the opportunities to develop that understanding. Continue reading →
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Posted on July 30, 2010 by Claude Almansi
By Claude Almansi
Editor, Accessibility Issues
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
About Ning’s decision to scrap free networks and for alternatives to Ning, see End of Free Ning Networks: Live Online Discussion: Apr. 20th.
Three plans
Ning sent an e-mail entitled “Important news about your Ning Network” to Ning network owners on July 28, 2010, telling them about three choices that will remain available to them until August 20, 2010: Mini, Plus and Pro.
Actually, the Mini plan also comes in a for-free version sponsored by Pearson — but only for eligible North American K-12 and Higher-Ed Ning Networks — in spite of all Pearson’s boasting about being Continue reading →
Filed under: Social Media | Tagged: contradiction, mini, Ning, nudity, paying, self-contradiction, unreliability, victorian | 4 Comments »
Posted on July 30, 2010 by JimS
By Robert Plants
[Editor’s Note: This article was written in response to Bonnie Bracey Sutton‘s call for submissions from selected writers. Bonnie is ETCJ’s editor of policy issues, and the focus of her call was Erik W. Robelen’s “Schools Fall Behind in Offering Computer Science” (Education Week, 7.14.10); WebCite version. -js]
You can’t build it and expect people to come. We cite statistics on what is and what isn’t but fail to dig into the symptoms. We point out initiatives that may influence supply and demand but don’t go on to look at what influences K-12 education that results in the dearth of interest in computer science. In most states, the emphasis lies in producing enough teachers to staff the education that we have. We have an educational system focused on a standardized curriculum, rote memorization, nationalized testing, curriculum standards. Dig a little deeper and you will find that the structure of schooling is about the little red brick building we have always known, grades, classrooms, curriculum, teaching strategies – one size fits all. In many ways, our system of schooling has not changed in 100 years. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: ACM, Apple II, Education Week, Erik W. Robelen, iPhone, Macintosh, NSF, Robelen, Schools Fall Behind in Offering Computer Science, STEM, YouTube | 5 Comments »
Posted on July 28, 2010 by JimS
By Jim Shimabukuro
Editor
This article is in response to the challenge that prompted John Adsit‘s “What Is Needed for Educational Change“: What is the one most important factor in making change work? John highlighted leadership, and Harry Keller, in “Leaders Must Be Visionary Risk-takers to Change Our Schools,” added qualities that the leader must have.
I’d be inclined to agree with John and Harry if the campus were still the center of the academic world. But it’s not. The center has been shifting to the world’s digital infrastructure, to the internet, where classrooms, schools, and colleges are being reconstructed in virtual bits rather than cement, creating “a world of ubiquitous connectivity” (Hagel, Brown, and Davison, The 2009 Shift Index: Measuring the Forces of Long-term Change, p. 11).
Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Big Shift, Brown, Daniel H. Pink, Davison, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Fullan, Getting Reform Right: What Works and What Doesn’t, Hagel, Harry Keller, John Adsit, Leaders Must Be Visionary Risk-takers to Change Our Schools, Measuring the Forces of Long-term Change, Miles, personal connectivity, Pink, The 2009 Shift Index, The Big Shift: Why It Matters, What Is Needed for Educational Change | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 27, 2010 by JimS
By Harry Keller
Editor, Science Education
[Note: The following article was originally posted by Harry Keller on 26 July 2010 as a reply to John Adsit’s What Is Needed for Educational Change. -js]
Educational change. What is it? Would we really like to have it?
In better times, things were allowed to move along without too much worry about education, except for some of the poor and minority areas.
Now, with headlines screaming at us about changing education, what’s wrong? John Adsit has provided us all with a cogent analysis of what doesn’t work and a suggestion as to why we aren’t doing what does.
Is change necessary? I have personal experience with a large urban school in a poor neighborhood (60% poverty). Despite hiring the best possible science teachers, they still had a 50% failure rate on the Regents science tests. Some of these teachers had PhDs in science. They were all excellent communicators and, as far as I could tell, excellent teachers. The science department was tearing its hair out. So, yes, change is necessary. This story repeats itself too many times across our country. Continue reading →
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Posted on July 26, 2010 by JimS
By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction
This article springs from an exchange of opinions on what is needed to effect change, and I was challenged to start a new discussion on the most important factors in making change work. In that original exchange, I argued that the most important factor is leadership, and I will start this new discussion with that premise. I believe skilled leadership is the most important factor in making change happen.
A couple of decades ago I spent some very painful years when the opposite was believed to be true. There was a belief, spurred in large part by the Annenberg Institute’s Re:Learning project, that the change leaders in education had to come from within the faculty. Change had to at least appear to be a grassroots effort, and school administrators sought to develop teacher leaders for reform efforts. The theory was that teacher leaders would initiate a reform, it would work, and the idea would slowly progress through the ranks until it had taken over. The administrators would intentionally fade into the background and let this magic work. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Annenberg Institute, Bob Marzano, Marzano, National Staff Development Council, NSDC, Professional Learning Communities at Work, Re:Learning project, Rick DuFour | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 24, 2010 by Claude Almansi
By Claude Almansi
Editor, Accessibility Issues
Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, edited by George Veletsianos, has just been published by Athabasca University Press, a Canadian publisher of Open Access, peer-reviewed, scholarly publications. The book, under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada Creative Commons License, can be bought in print or downloaded (at no cost) as PDF from aupress.ca/index.php/books/120177.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Alec Couros, Aleco Christakis, Andrew Whitworth, Angela Benson, Athabasca, Athabasca University, Athabasca University Press, Belinda Tynan, Beth Perry, BJ Eib, Bob Heller, Brendan Calandra, Canada, Catherine McLoughlin, Charles Xiaoxue Wang, Creative Commons, Deborah Vale, Edna Tal-Elhasid, Elizabeth Wellburn, emerging technologies, Gayle Underwood, George Veletsianos, Hagit Meishar-Tal, Margaret Edwards, Mark J. W. Lee, Mary R. McEwen, Michael Dowdy, Mike Procter, open acces, P. Clint Rogers, Rita Kop, Robyn Smyth, Romina Laouri, SaraJoy Pond. Richard Caladine, Technologies, Technology, Terry Anderson, The Learning Technologies Collaborative, Trey Martindale, Trish Andrews, Yiannis Laouris, Yoav Yair, Youngjoo Yi | 3 Comments »
Posted on July 23, 2010 by JimS
By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction
[Note: This article was first posted by John on 23 July 2010 as a reply to a comment by Jim, in the discussion on “We Need an Eco-Smart Model for Online Learning.” Also see John’s earlier comment on that article. -js]
For the student, a major difference is that she can’t sit back and expect to be taught. She has to actively navigate the virtual environment to learn. -Jim S
In my experience, therein lies the problem.
You describe a “guide on the side” ideal of learning, a style I endorse. When I first started an online school, we set up all our courses like this, from the start, and immediately ran into significant problems with student failure. It led me to do a presentation at a national conference I called “The Trap of Best Practice.”
Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | 11 Comments »
Posted on July 21, 2010 by JimS
By Jessica Knott
Editor, Twitter
So far, this conference is really interesting, with much diversity in interest. The thing today that’s standing out to me most (probably due to my fascination with the LMS) was the session on LMS futures. This blog post really sums up the discussion, highlighting an interesting disconnect between LMS vendors and users.
I’m not getting to as many sessions as I’d hoped, but I’m editing a ton of recordings, so see a lot about what’s being discussed. :)
Added 26 July 2010: If you would like to read up on the Twitter back channel (which I highly recommend), please search for the hash tag #et4online to see first hand responses from conference attendees. Continue reading →
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Posted on July 17, 2010 by JimS
By Jim Shimabukuro
Editor
Two articles that appeared in my Google alerts today (7.17.10) grabbed my attention. Both were out of California. One was a San Francisco Chronicle editorial blasting the University of California’s vision of an internet-delivered bachelor’s degree program.
The other was an op-ed by James Fay and Jane Sjogren, sharing their vision of a hypothetical Golden State Online, or GSO, a “stand-alone online community college campus.”
On the surface, the visions seem to be quite different, and the viewpoints are obviously different. However, below the surface, both visions share a common flaw — they’re based on models of online learning that are, in my opinion, simply not sustainable.
This got me thinking about an alternative model that would be infinitely sustainable. After a few starts and stops, I came up with an eco-smart model for online learning, or E-SMOL. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: AOL, asynch, bandwidth, Blogger, broadband, E-SMOL, eco-smart, eco-smart model for online learning, Flip, Gmail, Golden State Online, GSO, iPhones, James Fay, Jane Sjogren, MyFreeForum, onlining, phpBB, San Francisco Chronicle, Skype, University of California, wi-fi, WordPress, YouTube | 11 Comments »
Posted on July 16, 2010 by JimS
By Judith McDaniel
Editor, Web-based Course Design
I am core faculty for the M.A. program in Literature and Writing at Vermont College. In the last decade, Vermont College was bought by Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio. I live full time in Tucson, Arizona. I attend faculty meetings in Ohio and Vermont by conference call, and nearly half of the participants in any meeting are phoning in from all parts of the United States.
Last semester, two days before classes started, I took over a course that a colleague had developed; he was unable to teach for health reasons, and so I had no choice but to use the syllabus and the course site that he had developed. I went through the semester following the syllabus he had created and the discussion prompts that engaged the students each week in a conversation about the materials. I scrambled to keep up with the reading each week; I have a Ph.D. in literature, but my specialty is nineteenth century poetry and fiction, while his was drama and postmodern literature and theory. Reading even a part of what he had assigned was enough to stretch me, and I could only imagine how the students who were attempting their first graduate work might have felt. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Benito Cereno, Caryl Phillips, Chinua Achebe, Conrad: The Presentation of Narrative, Edward Said, Jew, Joseph Conrad, Lennard J. Davis, literature and writing, M.A. program, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Oronkoo, Othello, Shylock, The Heart of Darkness, The Value of Teaching a Racist Classic, Union Institute and University, Vermont College | 6 Comments »
Posted on July 13, 2010 by JimS
By Jim Shimabukuro
Editor
Three of the four articles that make up the spring 2010 issue (v42n3) of Journal of Research on Technology in Education caught my attention more for their assumptions than their stated purposes. These assumptions highlight, for me, some of the weaknesses inherent in efforts to introduce technology into schools and colleges.
In “Technology’s Achilles Heel: Achieving High-Quality Implementation,” the “heel” for Gene E. Hall is school and college administrators. According to Hall, “Education technology scholars and practitioners are engaged with some of the most promising and interesting innovations.” However, these innovations don’t find their way into classrooms because of the failure of administrators to implement them. Thus, our enlightened ed tech guiding lights are “confronted first hand with the challenges associated with disappointing implementation efforts and failures to go to scale.” Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: and Culture Intersect, Anne T. Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Barbara Means, Beliefs, CFS, Change Facilitator Style, Confidence, Flip, Focus on Student Learning, Gene E. Hall, How Knowledge, initiators, iPad, iPhones, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, managers, Peggy A. Ertmer, responders, T+T=G, Teacher Technology Change, teacher+technology=good, Technology and Education Change, Technology's Achilles Heel: Achieving High-Quality Implementation, YouTube | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 13, 2010 by JimS
By Lynn Zimmerman
Editor, Teacher Education
I am presently attending the ETAI (English Teachers Association of Israel) “Linking Through Language” conference in Jerusalem. (Click here to see the first-day report.) One of the keynote speakers was David Crystal, a renowned linguist. His keynote plenary lecture was called “Myths and Realities of English on the Internet.” As an educator interested in both language and technology issues in education, I found his talk engaging and interesting.
Since the theme of the conference is “Linking Through Language,” Crystal opened up his remarks by referring to the Internet as “the language linker par excellence.” After hearing his talk, I think he would agree with Tom Preskett’s article from April 8, 2010, Social Media Doesn’t Threaten Literacy! Among other things Crystal pointed out that in order to text using abbreviated words, one needs to know how to spell the word to start with so you can leave out the proper letters. He also cited anecdotal evidence from teachers showing that students do not carry over these habits into formal writing to a large degree. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: David Crystal, English Teachers Association of Israel, ETAI, keynote, linguist, Myths and Realities of English on the Internet, Social Media Doesn’t Threaten Literacy!, Tom Preskett, Twitter, What’s happening? | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 13, 2010 by JimS
By Harry Keller
Editor, Science Education
It is with some humility that I undertake to comment on Mr. Prensky’s article, “Simple Changes in Current Practices May Save Our Schools.” It touches on many ideas in which I have an interest, beginning with the oil spill as learning opportunity on which I provided an earlier comment (see “Opportunities to Learn from Oil Spills“). His idea is much more bold than mine, and I bow to his audaciousness.
I concur in the concept that the words “relevant’ and “authentic” have become overused and have lost meaning. They also represent a long-ago era of education that didn’t work then. Like so much in education, moderation and balance make things work. I believe that there’s nothing wrong with injecting some relevancy and authenticity into a classroom as long as you don’t base your entire curriculum on those concepts. I’m not so sure that “real” has any more meaning than those words, however. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 13, 2010 by Claude Almansi
By Claude Almansi
Editor, Accessibility Issues
The Italian teachers of the la scuola che funziona (the school that works) project have launched the Manifesto degli insegnanti (Teachers’ manifesto), which converges interestingly with Marc Prensky‘s Simple Changes in Current Practices May Save Our Schools.
The original Italian manifesto is published under a Creative Commons License. It is translated here by permission of the authors, who can be contacted via la scuola che funziona. Here is its English translation by Luciana Guido:): Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Italian, Italy, la scuola che funziona, Manifesto degli insegnanti, Marc Prensky, Simple Changes in Current Practices May Save Our Schools, Teachers' Manifesto | 4 Comments »
Posted on July 12, 2010 by JimS
By Lynn Zimmerman
Editor, Teacher Education
I am presently attending the ETAI (English Teachers Association of Israel) “Linking Through Language” conference in Jerusalem. (Click here to see the day two report.) This evening’s opening presentation, sponsored by the British Council, UK, was interesting and had an unexpected element. David Crystal, a renowned linguist, and his wife had prepared a presentation/performance called “Speaking Shakespeare: Fact and Fiction,” described in the program as “a light-hearted romp through Shakespeare.” Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: British Council, David Crystal, English Teachers Association of Israel, ETAI, Fact and Fiction, Linking Through Language, Second Life, Speaking Shakespeare | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 12, 2010 by JimS
By Marc Prensky
Here’s an idea to get at least something positive out of the Gulf oil spill. What if volunteers (or BP, under presidential order) collected samples of the tar balls on the beaches, sealed them in plastic bags, and then shipped them to every school in America for all students to analyze in their science classes. We could even throw in some oil-covered sand and feathers for good measure.
Doing this would involve every school kid (and science teacher) firsthand in the problem. They would see and smell, for themselves, just what the spill is actually producing, rather than just hearing about it on TV. Their awareness, as citizens and scientists, would be greatly enhanced. Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: BP, cell phones, Clayton Cristensen, DoE, Education, ePals, experimentation, Facebook, Gulf Coast, Gulf oil spill, Harlem Zone, innovation, KIPP, Marc Prensky, New Vision, NSF, NYC Teaching Fellows, partnering, Skype, Teach for America, Teaching Matters, Uncommon Schools | 38 Comments »
Posted on July 11, 2010 by JimS
Here’s an article with a generalization that goes against the grain of everything most educators believe about access to computers for children from low-income homes. Randall Stross, in “Computers at Home: Educational Hope vs. Teenage Reality“* (New York Times, 7.9.10), says that studies by economists indicate “little or no educational benefit” is gained.
Stross writes, “Economists are trying to measure a home computer’s educational impact on schoolchildren in low-income households. Taking widely varying routes, they are arriving at similar conclusions: little or no educational benefit is found. Worse, computers seem to have further separated children in low-income households, whose test scores often decline after the machine arrives, from their more privileged counterparts.” Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: BREAD, Columbia University, Computers at Home, Cristian Pop-Eleche, Educational Hope vs. Teenage Reality, Evaluation of the Texas Technology Immersion Pilot, Final Outcomes for a Four-Year Study (2004-05 to 2007-08), Helen F. Ladd, Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement, Home Computer Use and the Development of Human Capital, Jacob L. Vigdor, NBER, New York Times, Ofer Malamud, Randall Stross, Scaling the Digital Divide, Texas Center for Educational Research, University of Chicago | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 10, 2010 by JimS
[Posted on 7.10.13; revised 7.11.13]
Morgan Sims, a recent graduate of the University of South Florida, is a writer and social media consultant who loves all things tech and social media. She works indirectly with companies such as InternetServiceProvider. She spends most of her free time with her puppy, cooking, and staying active.
ETC Publications
Mobile Technology Finding a Place in the Classroom
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Educational Technology and Change Journal 
