On a personal note, I’m thrilled I got to spend Saturday at NCTA with you in Raleigh/Durham. Thanks for the great insights and food for thought!

Keep in mind that a trip down our hallways today would still likely net for you a superficial vision of 1960.
However, we are taking steps to shine some pockets of innovative light onto the entire school.

Our little plan looks toward a ubiquitous computing environment for all kids in three years. We really can’t afford to have a plan protracted out longer than this. The world is flying by, eh?

Year one: cohort of 20. MacBook Pro distribution. Immersion in emerging technolgies in a forgotten part of the country. Focused training. Moving quickly to needs-based. Encouraged innovation.

Year two: cohort of 20 assists me deeply in bring on the remaining 80 faculty members in a study to bring ourselves into the 21st Century. I really do believe this is the missing puzzle piece: a developmental focus on the paid professional in the room. our district really has, in the past, done a remarkable job of putting edgy technology into the hands of students. This, of course, does very little for pedagogy when we ignore the teacher leading said students.

*Also in this time, we have gutted our library. We ran a query and found that of our 14,000 “pieces”, over 4000 were over 50 years old and never (i repeat: NEVER) been checked out. Since we aren’t in the business of being an archival library- we shipped them to the warehouse (still logged but not taking up space). We then ditched another 2000 that were at least 20 years old and had been checked out once or less. This allowed us to divert funds in two directions: what do our kids want to read & electronic resources that can be accessed via the 60 wireless laptops that were a recent addition.

This library will be open late hours… laptops will be available for student checkout… and in the event we never do move to a 1:1 environment, our children will have the minimal required access.

In year three, we can then expect a far more widespread implementation of the NETS standards and other foundations of edge-education in 2008. Without this focused two-year “study period by immersion” for our staff, we would never be prepared for a move toward a ubiquitous student computing environment.

We need tons of help. We are not experts. But we do have a nucleus of devoted folks who are skilled in content a pedagogy who are ready to take on the third piece of the puzzle: technology as it relates to edge-education in 2008.

We just need more contact with visionaries like yourself to bolster our resolve in the face of solid midwestern conservatism.

Sean

Thanks.

Sean

Overall- I have to disagree from my humble little place in the word.

I agree that from a 30,000ft viewpoint web 2.0 has not revolutionized education in America. However, from the 50ft view of many classrooms in my building (which now have few boundaries) it certainly has. I say that even within the span of early experimentation. There are things going on in our classrooms this year at 10:00pm that have never occurred in the past. We have emerged from the superficial box of our classrooms in a hurry.

I agree that US education is flawed in many ways. NCLB largely kills innovation. Attempts to bring in content experts via alt.-certification have failed. From my vantage point, this often does little more within the realm of science & math education than allow a brief pipeline from graduation to a frighteningly secure job in a very insecure economy.

I agree that our nationwide system does not work for what lies ahead in the 21st Century. However, from a national view… this has likely always been the case. Pockets of dedicated professionals really can, and still do make a difference even in the toughest of situations.

I agree with your overall view. What I do not agree with is the assertion that until then we are fighting a losing battle. As an instructional coach in my building, I teach one period during the day (dual-credit bio) and one in the evening (marine bio). Ask my 17 and 18-year-olds if they think our efforts to bolster their tech skills within the framework of our content is wasted. Ask them if the skills have they have gained int he past year will change their lives for the good. Ask them if they think we should wait for the entire system to transform.

Sean

assist the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance and time;

facilitate shared learning by enabling students to join or create communities of learners that extend well beyond the classroom;

We don’t have a curriculum like that, btw. We should.

“E-learning (that is, learning supported by or facilitated by ICT) has considerable potential to support [effective] teaching approaches… E-learning may:

assist the making of connections by enabling students to enter and explore new learning environments, overcoming barriers of distance and time;

facilitate shared learning by enabling students to join or create communities of learners that extend well beyond the classroom;

assist in the creation of supportive learning environments by offering resources that take account of individual, cultural, or developmental differences;

enhance opportunities to learn by offering students virtual experiences and tools that save them time, allowing them to take their learning further.

Schools should explore not only how ICT can supplement traditional ways of teaching but also how it can open up new and different ways of learning”

I deliver PD in ICT and effective pedagogy to teachers in 10 schools over a 3 year period. I had them read this statement of the new curriculum and we had a discussion about how many teachers will either staple these pages shut or run screaming from the expectation.

Do you have a curriculum that states so bluntly that students will be communicating with others outside of their school with ICT? That ICT can open up new and different ways of learning? I think this is quite a progressive document.