From the “So What Do We Do About This?” Department comes a story about the tech savvyness of one 14-year old South Korean youngster who is making his phone play an important part in his education.

Insoo doesn’t even have to take the phone out of his pocket to send an SMS. He knows how to slide it open, which buttons to push how many times to reach the “Send SMS” menu option, compose the entire text message, and hit the send button — all without even looking at the phone. This is especially handy when he needs to send an SMS during class.

And so what does his network look like?

The first thing Insoo does after Hakwon [his school] is, of course, turn on the PC. Insoo has a difficult math problem as homework. He posts it up on Naver Knowledge iN, a popular online Q&A service with some 70 million entries. Within about 10 minutes of posting, someone chimes in with a good answer, and Insoo awards him with some “Knowledge Power” points — knowledge-based economy in action among 14-year-olds.

Hmmm…that sounds like Twitter on steroids. (I’d guess Shareski would be leading in “Tweet Power” points by now.) Read the whole article for more potentially “unacceptable” behavior on the part of young kids using technology.

So, without this turning into Rhetorical-Question-A-Rama, what should we as educators in a country that is about five years behind South Korea (according to this blog post, at least) be thinking about this version of the future? (Or is it already happening now?) Do we clamp down harder on the technologies our kids use? Try to penalize, even criminalize their use? Keep pretending that there are no acceptable uses of phones or other connection tools? Or do we start thinking about changing what we do and how we do it? Should open phone tests be ok? Should we embed the information and connection skills that the student in the story has into our own curricula? Oh, and by the way, who taught Insoo to do the things he’s doing, do you think? (Ok…Rhetorical-Question-A-Rama it is.)

I keep seeing this through the lens of my kids. Do I really want to call Tess a cheater if she uses the phone in her pocket to access her network to get an answer to a question on a test? My answer: depends. Let me see the question, but I’d have to say that most likely, if it can be answered by using her phone and by her network, then let’s teach her how to make good use of those resources instead of pretending they don’t exist.

(Article via Ewan’s delicious links)

Technorati Tags: school, learning, education, SouthKorea, networks, literacy

When my beloved Honda Accord with about 170,000 miles on it finally started breaking down from far too frequent trips to the airport, Wendy and I decided it was time walk the talk and replace it with a hybrid. We did some family research on the matter, talked a lot about why we were making this decision, and narrowed our choices (as if there were a slew) to a Civic Hybrid or a Prius. After a few weeks of scanning the inventories of Cars.com and Vehix, we finally found an appealing, little-used Prius about 30 miles away that we picked up just in time for our Thanksgiving drive to see family in Connecticut.

Almost immediately we were addicted to watching the usage display that relays to the second information about gas consumption and average miles per gallon. On our 150 or so mile jaunt up here, we averaged just over 48 miles per gallon, and I found myself thinking hard about what I could do to increase it. The most obvious was to slow the heck down. When we got stuck in traffic for a few miles, our average started moving north. (I’m not sure if I’ll ever get close to the mid-fifties that are advertised.) Over the next couple of days in around town driving, I’ve been learning a great deal from this constant data feed, and I can already feel my driving habits shifting. (I’ll be leaving earlier for the airport today.) Dare I say it, it’s almost like a video game, trying to nudge the numbers higher as we go.

I keep wondering what an effect just a display like that in every car, one much more simple than the Prius has, perhaps just a LCD readout of mpg at any given moment would have on gas consumption from driving. Probably not as much as $4 or $5 for a gallon of gas, I’m sure, which sounds like where we’re headed. But still, I think it would probably have a pretty big impact.

But despite the fact that we can now fill up our car for less than $30 even on an empty tank, the best part is being able to add this to the lengthening list of choices we’ve made to try to lessen our footprint on the Earth, to the pellet stoves and compost bins and low flush toilets and consignment shop clothes and just reduced consumption in general and more. While I’m not convinced that the personal actions of individuals are enough to overcome the general environmental pillage of big companies and big countries (my visit to Shanghai really shook my faith), and while we are in no way close to perfect in these matters, if nothing else I hope it models for my own kids that everything we buy, everything we do at any given moment is a choice that has an effect on things larger than ourselves.

(Photo by BeigeAlert)

Technorati Tags: hybrid, environment, prius, driving

I know I haven’t been reading as often or as widely in my aggregator of late, but I’ve been somewhat surprised by how little we’ve been writing about this next election, which, I think is simply put the most important election of my lifetime, at least. I’ve really been struggling with the state of the world more than usual these days. The environment (I think when you travel a lot you really get a sense of what an extraordinarily wasteful society we live in), the global conflicts, the very tenuous hold we seem to be having economically both here and abroad. All of which makes me want to at times crawl under the covers with my kids, a flashlight, and a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

And in a education context, I’ve not been all that impressed with any of the candidates in terms of how they seem to understand the moment and the challenges. But I’ve finally started to do a little more reading and digging, and I came across a pretty interesting assessment of the Democratic field in terms of understanding the Web and its potential for education.

TechPresident is run by the Personal Democracy Forum which was started by Micah Sifry, who also sponsored the PDF event that I was able to attend this summer. Now, Sifry and most of the bloggers on the site have a left-leaning feel to their posts, so this summary will probably end up comparing favorably with the look at the Republicans that is still to come. And, these assessments were made not by any direct contact with the candidates or their campaigns but by attempting to piece together answers based on what they have said in speeches or debates and/or what they have released in terms of policy. But it’s a starting point. Bottom line, Barrack Obama seems to “get it” more than the rest when it comes to the six specific policy goals they are attempting to judge the candidates by, which are to:

1. Declare the internet a public good in the same way we think of water, electricity, highways or public education.
2. Commit to providing affordable high-speed wireless Internet access nationwide.
3. Declare a “Net Neutrality” standard forbidding Internet service providers from discriminating among content based on origin, application or type.
4. Instead of “No Child Left Behind,” our goal should be “Every Child Connected.” (Emphasis mine)
5. Commit to building a Connected Democracy where it becomes commonplace for local as well as national government proceedings to be heard by anyone any time and over time.
6. Create a National Tech Corps, because as our country becomes more reliant on 21st century communications to maintain and build our economy we need to protect our communications infrastructure.

The money quote on Obama is

But by calling for the explicit use of blogs, wikis and social networking tools “to modernize internal, cross-agency, and public communication and information sharing to improve government decision-making” and direct public commenting on the White House website before legislation is signed, Obama is clearly signaling a commitment to a much more robust e-democracy than anyone else.

The short summary of all the major candidates in terms of education:

Edwards–”while his education platform has many strong aspects, it makes no explicit mention of the need to close the digital divide (though in fairness that is covered elsewhere) or how the internet could serve as an educational resource, as a way to expand learning moments beyond the classroom, and as a tool to connect students, parents and teachers 24/7.”

Clinton–”Her speeches and policy statements on education make no mention of the digital divide, rural or urban.”

Obama–”When it comes to education and the digital divide, Obama’s platform is surprisingly less ambitious in imagining technology’s potential benefits (given how broadly he sees its value elsewhere); his main concern appears to be wiring schools.”

Richardson–”Take his education platform: “We should use the best technology to create more flexible learning environments,” he said in his speech on the topic. “We need to increase opportunities for Advanced Placement and online courses.” Umm, is that it? Yes, it seems.”

Dodd–”He also calls for a “virtual learning innovation funding” to support online courses for public schools. Yet, despite a call for “world-class” public schools, he makes no mention of the need for “world-class” internet access for all students.”

Biden–”When it comes to how the internet can transform educational opportunity, however, Biden, like many of his peers, is pretty old-fashioned, talking only about “bringing computers and the Internet to schools,” rather than connecting children, parents, teachers and educational resources 24/7.”

We need to weigh in on this debate, or at least have a debate, I think, as to what the full slate of candidates on both sides have to say about education and technology. Collectively, in this election, we have a much bigger voice than three years ago, and I think we need to use it. Not to endorse a candidate per se, but to engage in and model the ways in which we can promote a wider discussion of the issues and ideas, conversations that will hopefully make all of us more involved in whatever ways that works. I’ll start a tag in case anyone might be interested in chiming in: edelection08

Technorati Tags: edelection08, politics, education, technology,

There were only a few hundred people who hung around until the bitter end of this year’s NYSCATE conference in Rochester when Gary Stager and I had an hour to “discuss” (not debate) the world of technology and learning, and I hope they felt it was worth it. Gary and I really don’t disagree on all that much, we just come from different frames. And I admire the passion with which he holds his convictions about learning and classrooms. And the fact is that I like Gary; I learn a lot from my “discussions” with him.

We UStreamed the event live (David Jakes, producer) and at one point had over 50 people in the room from around the globe. (Yawn…) The backchannel ended up being about 20 pages long, and, as always, it’s an interesting read on a lot of levels (especially as one of the participants.) I’ve embedded the stream and the chat on the wiki site I’m keeping for many of the streams.

If nothing else, it’s pretty cool to include other audiences in events like these. Would love to hear from some of you who were in the room, physical or virtual.

Technorati Tags: nyscate07, garystager, learning, education

Tomorrow, Amazon is set to release “Kindle,” the digital book reader that holds over 200 books and does a whole lot more (i.e. full text searches, annotations, wireless downloads, online surfing, etc.) It’s a huge suggestion, isn’t it, that we might be on the verge of moving one of the last bastions of the analog world online, and I know that this is a real sore point with many who love to curl up with physical books and turn pages. As an article titled “The Future of Reading,” in this week’s Newsweek about Jeff Bezos’ and his new device says:

Computers may have taken over every other stage of the process—the
tools of research, composition and production—but that final mile of
the process, where the reader mind-melds with the author in an
exquisite asynchronous tango, would always be sacrosanct, said the
holdouts.

I’m not so sure. When you think of all there is to read now, and how the form of that reading has been changed by the Web, I think it’s clear we’re in a transition period that is moving us to something not necessarily better or worse but different for sure. (One of my favorite sayings about many of these shifts.) Again, while fully admitting that my personal practice right now in no way reflects the practice of 97.45% of the rest of the population in terms of the creation and consumption of digital content, and while I still love books with pages and read many of them each year, given the choice, I would rather go digital. (Don’t forget, I still love my Tablet PC even if I don’t use it as much these days.)

The bigger question, as the article alludes to, is whether or not this shift will begin to reverse the trend of people reading fewer and fewer books. And I love the possibility, as suggested in the article, that one potential of connected books are connected readers, that this device or one similar may open up all sorts of ways in which we can share the reading with others. Ben Vershbow, author of one of my favorite blogs, says “The idea of authorship will change and become more of a process than a product.” (It already is, isn’t it?) If you want even more mind bending examples (like the ability of liberals to annotate an Ann Coulter book for all of us to read) then read the whole article.

But is the Kindle the device that’s going to make the slope even more slippery? I’d love to try one out, no doubt.

And in the end, I think that’s what I like more than anything about all of these conversations. That in these shifts, in these changes come all sorts of not seen before potential to create connections, to build networks. Like the Kindle, much of this is absolutely different. That’s what makes it fun, don’t you think?

(Note: The Newsweek article is decidedly rosy about this event. For a less upbeat assessment, try this column in Information Week.)

Technorati Tags: reading, kindle, amazon

From today’s Times:

South Korea boasts of being the most wired nation on earth. In fact, perhaps no other country has so fully embraced the Internet. Ninety percent of homes connect to cheap, high-speed broadband, online gaming is a professional sport, and social life for the young revolves around the “PC bang,” dim Internet parlors that sit on practically every street corner.But such ready access to the Web has come at a price as legions of obsessed users find that they cannot tear themselves away from their computer screens.

The story about the “Jump Up Internet Rescue School,” a boot camp for kids who are having issues finding balance. But I have to wonder, how much of that is a parenting issue. Another reason why we keep a lot of band aids in the bathroom cabinet…

Technorati Tags: balance, Internet, culture

I forget what pointed me to this incredibly thought provoking speech by Mark Pesce about the potential of networks, but man…talk about a mind bender. How can you not read something that starts with

The world has changed.  The world is changing.  The world will change a whole lot more.  We lucky few, we band of coders, bear witness to the most comprehensive transformation in human communication since the advent of language.  We are embedded in the midst of this transition; we make it happen with every script we write and every page we publish and every blog we post and every video we upload.

Whoa. Let me pull out a few other tasty tidbits as well, ones that have my brain buzzing a bit more than usual. Like, for instance, this statistic:

…somewhere in the middle of 2008, half of humanity will own a mobile handset.  In just a decade’s time, we’ll have gone from half the world never having made a telephone call to half the world owning a phone.   Unprecedented.  Unexpected.

Now I know you can read that a couple of different ways, but when you think that there are now almost 3 billion people with communication devices in their hands, it makes you wonder about the potentials for leveraging those devices for powerful connections. Connections of the type that are already happening. Or this quote:

The net regards censorship as a failure, and routes around it.

And he gives great examples of how we do just that, from 15-year olds who are releasing the latest Harry Potter novel early to a 16-year old cracking a hugely expensive Internet filter in Australia in under a half an hour. Or these statements:

• The wiring isn’t the network.  The routers aren’t the network. The people are the network.
• The network, in every form, is anathema to hierarchy.
• The network is simply kicking the legs out from under hierarchies, everywhere they exist, for as long as they exist, until they find themselves unable to rise again.  What it really comes down to is this: we are assuming management of our own affairs, because we are now empowered to do so.

He also describes a vision of how our technologies will connect in the future, freeing us from the telcos and Internet providers we are currently dependent on. I’m sure someone can jump in an make even more plain the importance of Meraki, especially in the context of the OLPC, but the way he describes using mesh in his presentation session is pretty powerful.

And, finally, these 5 Mob Rules to think about:

1. The mob is everywhere.
2. The mob is faster, smarter and stronger than you are.
3. Advertising is a form of censorship
4. The mob does not need a business model.
5. Make networks happen.

He ends it with:

Still, there is one thing I can recommend: have courage and keep moving.  Standing still is not an option.  The world has changed.  The world is changing.  The world will change a whole lot more.  Good luck.

I think that might be the scariest part about all of this when it comes to the discussion about schools. I sip the Kool-Aid that says this is “the most comprehensive transformation in human communication since the advent of language” and that we’re only seeing the first effects of that transformation. Maybe I buy into all of that too easily, or maybe it’s just a symptom of the profound changes I’ve experienced in my own experience. Whatever. The point is that of all of the entities in the world that should be focused on understanding this moment, schools should be at the forefront. Standing still is not an option, yet by and large, that’s exactly what’s happening.
 

Technorati Tags: networks, literacy, cellphones

Obviously, I’ve been taking a bit of a blogging break of late. And while I’m not feeling like I’m totally back at it yet, I have found myself doing some reading, getting back into Twitter, and connecting some dots in my brain. Without question, these last six weeks have been mind-numbing…way too many presentations in way too many cities to have much left in the tank at the end of the day to read or write. And I don’t cross the finish line for another few weeks, a point at which I’m sure I’ll simply hibernate for a few days to catch up with everything.

What’s been interesting with this day after day presenting is how my thinking about this message has been tweaked and how certain parts of it have floated to the top. If nothing else, Twitter has made plain the power of the network, and that network has become the focal point of almost all my presentations. (Thanks, btw, to all of you who have answered spur of the moment requests in Twitter or with Skype or others to help me demonstrate the potential of the network. Much appreciated.) It’s not about teaching or classrooms or even kids…it’s simply about learning, about how we can learn, about how we do learn when we are connected. And, most importantly, it’s about how we need to understand what’s happening in our personal learning networks in order to make sense of what the potentials are, at some point, for our classrooms. Nothing really new here, I know. But just a deepening in my own understanding that is pushing me further.

Of course, the network has been helping this. Stephen’s recent posts “How the Net Works” and “The Personal Learning Effect” have been greatly instructive and have caused me to re-evaluate important parts of my practice. The more I consider it, the more I find myself moving away from a frame of social networking towards one of networked learning (which is obviously social by nature). More toward the literacies of networked learning. I find myself reflecting really deeply of late about how we build these connections, how we manage them, how we leverage them.

And that’s fueling my main frustration right now which is how hard it is to get the educators I speak with to be selfish about these ideas and not run toward classroom implementation of tools. I understand why it happens. Part of it is the “drive by” nature of much of my work, something that I’ve begun to shift away from. (More about that at some point.) And, even more, it’s because of the very little emphasis that districts in general put on supporting the personal learning of teachers. It’s all about student results and assessments, and it’s very difficult to look at these opportunities outside of that frame. Invariably, when the questions start, it’s all about how to keep kids safe or how to satisfy the IT people that we should do this or…you get the idea. I wish the questions after my sessions were more about how to cultivate trusted nodes, or strategies for creating connections outside of physical space.

At some point, I want one of the goals and outcomes for the students at my kids’ school system to be that they will graduate with the ability to build their own learning networks in effective, ethical and safe ways. But that will only happen when enough of the administrators and teachers understand that for themselves. Only then will they be able to help my kids add dots to their world maps in ways that teach them the power of networks in the ways we already know it.

Technorati Tags: learning, networks, literacy

New Class(room) War: Teacher vs. Technology – New York Times

• Quote: “All the advances schools and colleges have made to supposedly enhance
  learning — supplying students with laptops, equipping computer labs,
  creating wireless networks — have instead enabled distraction. Perhaps
  attendance records should include a new category: present but otherwise
  engaged.”

  Note: I actually met a high school principal in Ohio last week who encouraged his teachers to tell kids “Turn your phones ON!” when they come to class. Not as in start making all sorts of phone calls, but as in let’s learn how we can use our phones (since just about every student had one at his school) to extend what we’re doing in class. We can try to fight this, I suppose, as many schools are. Or, we can try to inculcate appropriate use from early on by modeling our own cell phone use to access infromation and learn throughout the curriculum. Bottom line is yep, this is a much more distract-able world. We have to somehow find strategies to teach our kids to use cell phones and computers and the like in effective ways, and we also have to bend our thinking a bit in terms of what we ask our kids to do in classrooms in the first place.
   - post by willrich