I'm an Ed Tech Nerd -- Meeting Dr. Elliot Soloway

Somewhere around 10 or more years ago, I was in the audience at a conference at Germantown Academy when Dr. Elliot Soloway showed a video of students working in a project-based learning, constructivist style classroom. He said the noise and the seeming chaos were what was expected with this approach and it certainly did not look like a class where traditional "Classroom Management," i.e., students sitting in rows in a teacher-centered classroom and waiting to be called upon, was happening. Students were circulating, standing, sitting, moving, talking, gesturing, explaining, drawing, writing, using computers, using books. But he said -- listen to what they're talking about -- watch and consider what is really happening. We did and it was quite impressive - the students were working, collaborating, sharing, thinking, solving problems, creating together, building. It was not the 3 R's - rote, repetition, regurgitation - it was the 3 C's - collaboration, creativity, communication (3 C's are an element of 21st Century Learning per the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.)

Something clicked while I sat in that audience - I thought - this is it. This is how computers should be used with students, this is the real power they can offer, this is how students can be unleashed to their full potential, and how teaching and learning can be a mobile fluid continous process and how learning can happen in a way that engages, involves and enlightens students, in a way that emulates the most creative work in real life. I wanted to learn more about teaching this way and enrolled in a master's program at Chestnut Hill College (where I'm now an adjunct), wrote more including a book, and other things followed as well.

But it was watching Dr. Soloway and that video that was the catalyst.

So I told him the story of how seeing and hear him and viewing that video transformed my professional career and how he should know he may be touching others in an audience when he speaks as well. He hugged me - 6 times (I counted.)

This was by far the high point for me of an exciting day at the University of Michigan - Dearborn for the One-to-One Institute and Wayne RESA where I keynoted (Dr. Soloway stayed and listened!), and taught a class of middle school students from Sarah Banks Middle School in the morning and in the afternoon, and lead a panel of the students. The teachers and administrators were eager and reflective, the students were flexible, bright and creative, everyone else was helpful and kind. But meeting Dr. Soloway topped it all. I am an ed tech nerd for sure.

End User Networking

My local supermarket, the Acme in Randolph, NJ, recently installed do-it-yourself check out lanes. They were one of the last of the bigger stores in the area to go this way, distributed checkout now available as a growing option.

In the late 80's, I worked for Pan American World Airways, in the department termed End User Computing. The idea was that instead of having secretaries and assistants who did word processing and interacted with a computer, the end user, from the chairman on down, would all have a computer and do their own work including email, word processing, database analysis and reporting, spreadsheets, etc. This was an enormous change in approach and philosophy and was, frankly, one of the attempts to save the airline which had not made money since the 70's. The concept was to distribute the computing work to the actual person who needed the work done, not through an intermediary (word processing department or secretary or assistant.) Now it seems in most organizations this is how it's done, with a few people having secretaries or assistants, but most doing their own email, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.

In the end, by the way, computers (of course) could not save the airline and in 1991 it closed its doors. According to a friend of mine still there at the time they piled up all the computers with the trash and threw them out. I hope some went to good use in some way.

Now we have Web 2.0, cloud computing, ATM's, grocery store self checkout, home/school/work/cafe and nearly everywhere Internet access, social networks, personal networks, online shopping (which didn't suffer so much economically as retail stores during this past holiday season),Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious, Diigo, and more. Nearly everything pushed out to the fingertips of us all. End user networking in effect. No go between, no one to separate us from the work and the activities.

How far will it go? I think we will see eventually the end of the IT departments as we know them - although there will be a need for experts in centralized support. Instead of everyone having servers at their locations, they'll connect to server farms where redundancy and security are part of the package. This is already happening of course but not so much yet at schools. But in a recessionary economy, cost cutting and consolidation rule, and IT will be examined closely.

Who will survive, who will thrive? Most likely the people with the end user networking perspective, who have a strong PLN, who have seriously seen and considered the shifts happening, who can understand infrastructure and grids and large scale information delivery, who have become experts at some things and generalists at other things, who can articulate their vision, and who can form and strengthen learning and working communities.

The product I'm personally waiting for is the fully functioning portal to gather together all the various networks that exist, with a single signon, with feeds and updates and access to everyone and everything in my personal and professional learning network, where opportunities/ideas/discourse/information/learning/teaching/microblogging/news feeds are all available from any networked computer anywhere. I know parts of this exist but not in a fully formed environmental consolidated one stop shopping way.

But as we consolidate and distribute and bring back to the end user, how to we strengthen communities where we actually see one another? Wouldn't it be great if along with this fully functioning one stop shopping portal there were a fee charged that would go back to local communities that would set up localized drop-in in person community centers that would be physical spaces, with full Internet access, which would allow people to drop in, socialize, interact, speak in person, hold meetings, share information, read and relax together. There might be specific things set up to gather say teenagers together, others for retired people, others for family. It used to be that every town had a movie theatre and lots of people went to the movies nearly every week and saw their neighbors and friends and met other people routinely. This new physical community center could help tie us together in online and personal ways.

What do you think?

Link to 21st Century Keynote/Teaching of a Class

The link is live for the session to happen on Tuesday 2/24/09 in Dearborn, MI for the One-to-One Institute.  I am really excited about this - it's going to combine a lot of thinking about teaching, learning, planning, assessment, new tools, student-centric classrooms, and more.  Participants will have access to a Wiki instead of handouts. The link has all the details including a flyer and how to register.

21st Century Classroom/One-to-One Institute in Michigan

On a snowy day, I'm having a great time planning for an event next month. Will post the URL when it's ready (soon, during the week) - but it's for for the One-to-One Institute to be held at University of Michigan Dearborn on February 24, 2009. Synopsis is I'll give a keynote on 21st Century teaching and learning followed by my teaching a 21st Century classroom of 6th, 7th and 8th graders while observed by the participants in the morning and then again in the afternoon, closing with a panel of the students. With much deconstruction of the process, the planning, the resources, the tools, the goals -- and with an eye towards making the ideas replicable, accessible and practical for teachers. A Wiki will be fully populated for all participants in lieu of "handouts."

The idea of 21st Century learning is in many ways a new moniker for many existing important educational ideas. Collaborative learning, team learning, higher order thinking, student-centered learning, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, critical thinking/problem-solving skills are part and parcel of what is now termed 21st Century skills and learning. In the end it's all about the facilitation of deep thinking. Deep thinking doesn't involve repeating facts or finding information, although facts and information inform thinking. Teachers viscerally know when thinking and synthesis is going on in their classrooms. Those educators attuned to these ideas will thrive in a 21st Century classroom.

The difference, however, between these concepts as they were employed even 5 years ago and today's classroom is the abundance of new resources and tools for engaging students and facilitating their deep thinking. And the tools available for the teacher while planning, executing and assessing the project. We'll be using Wikispaces, Voicethreads, Animoto, Apple Keynote, Google Maps, Excel, Smartboards, laptops, blogs, Twitter, and probably more. All without Webmasters or a tech department. All planning is being done at home on my wireless network and at various Internet-enabled cafes and libraries. With reliance as always on my PLN (Personal Learning Network) contacted and polled through Twitter, Linked-In, Facebook and email.

This is going to be way too much fun.

HotChalk Column Live

The HotChalk column is live - predictions for 2009.  It always means going out on a limb to predict these things but at the very least there will be something to chuckle at in 2010 - at the most some of them might happen!  

2009 and One-to-One

Working on a HotChalk column for January and thinking of what new things will be in store for One-to-One. So far the list includes:

• Bandwidth attention by the Obama team and others - hopefully the U.S. will move to a better place in the terms of Internet bandwidth plus access.  Let's hope WiMAX and other technologies become ubiquitous - and affordable.

• Cloud Computing/Portals - without a robust learning community/environment the potential for one-to-one is static.  

• Obama team pays serious attention to One-to-One - this is already starting as Don Knezek of ISTE asked me and several others for input in response to questions he'd received from the Obama team.

• Apple releases a tablet?  No insider (or outsider) information here, just resurfacing of rumors - and a sincere hope that Apple takes what they learned from iTouch, along with their design sense and knowledge of schools, and releases a tablet.

This is a short list - the longer and more detailed list will be on HotChalk in January.  

Sustainability and One-to-One

An email from a reader of my HotChalk column asked about paying for 1-to-1 which made me think about sustainibility.  Back in October, I'd had a great conversation with Leslie Wilson who heads up Michigan's One-to-One Institute, about paying for laptop/tablet programs as well as continuing them.  So between Leslie's ideas and survey results (see it to the right - please take it if you can) I'll be writing a column on sustainability.  (By the way, in February I'll be in Dearborn, Michigan for the One-to-One Institute, teaching in a 21st C. classroom, viewed by educators as part of a 2-day conference.  And in August Leslie and I are planning a peer conference for national leaders of One-to-One programs.  Will post URL's when they're available.)

Initial thought about sustaining - it's about more than money, but in the end it's about money.  If the program hasn't been accepted by stakeholders, and if the program is viewed as an extension or an add-on to "real curriculum" or real "tools" - it might be cut.  Especially in these complicated times with our economy.  Schools are going to feel the effects because the dominoes will be falling.  Public schools are funded by tax dollars and if people have lost their jobs and houses, they're not paying full taxes, if at all.  Independent schools will likely feel the pinch in enrollment for the same reasons.  It will be a tough act for every program at many schools which use a zero-sum budget model.  

But in corporate America, if you're working, you've got a computer.  It's a given that it's how business gets done.  It would seem that in schools where laptops is how learning gets done, laptop budgets will continue.