Promises-JB-Revisions


 * THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY**: A Review of Works and Ideas Relating to the Power of Technology in Education and Beyond


 * CREATED BY**: Pepperdine University's Online Masters of Educational Technology Program: Cadre 9


 * PURPOSE**: The purpose of this WIKI is to offer an examination of technology in todays educational environment and to give practical information to those interested in these ideas.

What are the promises or benefits of technology?
 * INDEX**:

What directions do we need to take with technology?

What models or examples should inspire and inform educational technology?

References

Links

=What are the promises or benefits of technology?= __- Improves Communication__ Provides another way to communicate with parents in a faster and more convenient method (Cuban, 2001) **KD** Technology allows for greater cooperation, communication, and creativity of groups all over the world (Rheingold 2002). **HW** __- Connections to other learning environments__ Sweeping improvements in medical practice, perhaps with nanomedicine leading the way to repair disease at the cellular level. (Pesce, 2000,Ch. 5) **DJ** The noosphere, or collective human intelligence, in the form of the WWW, cellular phone networks, etc., connect and benefit the fabric of mankind as once envisioned by Teilhard. (Pesce, 2000,p. 169) **DJ** As we continue to study Artificial Intelligence, we come to understand more about our own human intelligence, how it comes into being, and how it continues to develop. (Pesce, 2000 Chapter 2) DJ (use page numbers, not chapters) **DJ** __- Increases Collaboration__ Technology allows for greater cooperation, communication, and creativity of groups all over the world (Rheingold 2002). **HW** Internet and digital video is another prominent tool to help student by encouraging collaborative work, which can help them to better understanding of the subject. **BN - BL** __- Maximizes Learning__ Technology allows for greater self-monitoring. Technology in itself is an action research project for the world. Without the continual reevaluation of tech we will be in a standstill (Rheingold 2002). **HW** You have to enthusiastically engage your students and co-opt them within mutually satisfying instructional mechanisms that allows them to have responsibility and some control over their own educational experiences “Innovative classrooms are abuzz with productive discussion and the excitement of learning” (Lucas, 2002 **MT**). Technology not only helps students learn better, it also helps them to learn better things. For example, internet can help them with their homework and allow them to find out interesting and valuable things outside the classroom. **BN - BL** __- Creates Social Network__ Our children will come to apprehend a different reality than the one we inhabit. . . they will be granted a broader sense of self.” (p. 270) **DJ** - __Breaks Down Barriers (social and learning)__ Grants them direct access to facts, ideas and primary sources, links images and concepts to sound and film, and motivate students, especially those who would otherwise not be engaged. (Cuban, 2001) **KD** Breaks down barrier between students and adults, which makes learning and interaction more comfortable. “The kids started asking the speakers if they had email addresses and they started emailing them. This broke down the power dynamic that exists between a kid and an adult.” (Tapscott, 1998) **KD** __- New Skills__ Technology prepares students for the jobs of the future (Tapscott, 1998) **KD** Computer can help students to involve actively in problem solving, analyzing information among each other; however, the most ineffective way of learning is from lecture and books that place student in a the passive role. For example, high school students from inner city, made an electronic yearbook to display for a local children’s museum. The result was positive effect on students such as task engagement and self-confidence. **BN - BL** The use of technology in this setting transports educators and their charges into new realms of education and instruction that are richly laded with the possibilities of unlimited inquiry. This is the enthusiastic promise of technology when employed in educational settings. **MT - Expanding Fields__ VR gaming will continue to be one of the most popular uses of technology. (Ch. 8) **DJ** Student centered programs of participative academic inquiry have demonstrated that previous theories of practice could be improved upon substantially. The performance data being gathered and analyzed from some of these programs suggest that they can be very effective in transforming schools from disconnected entities to partners in the community. **MT** - **BL** Technology will continue to become smaller, with smaller components containing more memory. (Pesce, 2000,Ch. 5) __- Usage__ Computers will continue to augment human intelligence. (Pesce, 2000,Ch. 7) **DJ** N-Geners will perform knowledge work requiring life-long learning. (Tapscott, 1998) **KD** “Rather than reading about physics or math, Resnick wants children (and adults) to participate in an exploration that will feel much like play but will result in the acquisition of a broader base of knowledge—learning by doing.” (Pesce, 2000, p. 96) **DJ** We will be using technology as a part of “creative play [which is a part of] a fundamental learning experience for children.” (Pesce, 2000,p. 92) **DJ** More students will be participating in part time education where students have jobs and go to school part time on line because it’s more convenient and efficient. “Many students need to work to fund university attendance. Many more in the workforce are registering in university courses as part of the trend of life-long learning.” (Tapscott, 1998) **KD** “Most of us will carry on much as before, but with a far more comprehensive awareness of the world around us: the entire world around us, in all of its richness, its depth, and its wonder. We will make more informed decisions, accounting for the comprehensive repercussions of our actions, or we will soon learn if these acts have caused harm to another.” (Pesce, 2000,p. 243) **DJ** __- Discontinued Technology__ Children must learn to search for and analyze the validity of websites and not just accept them as fact. (Tapscott, 1998) **KD** __- New Technology__ We need to continue to encourage people to contribute and give to the advancement of technology (Rheingold 2002). **HW** We will see a simulation of everything from war to design allows man to encounter the possibilities and view the drawbacks without the dangers inherent in them. (Pesce, 2000,Ch. 8) **DJ
 * __Technology in the Future: What Directions Do We Need To Take With Technology?__**__
 * __Technology in the Future: What Directions Do We Need To Take With Technology?__**__
 * Securing more technology for schools, so that they can operate more efficiently and faster and support better teaching and learning, has been touted by public officials as a splendid way to reform schools. (Cuban, 2001)

?-unsure where to put-any ideas? We will see the importance of peer to peer communication as group communication will be key (Rheingold 2002). **HW**

=What models or examples should inspire and inform educational technology?= =Examples:= __- In the Curriculum__ Learning maximized when there is an immediate feedback available. Computer support this learning. For example, Microcomputer-Based laboratory (MBL) is an instantaneously Line graphs showing the value of a variable over a period are used in mathematics and the sciences. **BN**, - **BL** Use of “pets” with artificial intelligence, such as the Furby, to work with autistic children and others who can benefit from the extended repetition inherent in the activity of AI. (Pesce, 2000,p. 33) **DJ** With Lego kits as with Papert’s turtle, “children can master logical thinking and complex concepts through play and exploration.” (Pesce, 2000, p.89) **DJ** Using products such as Technics kits, children learn about “. . . mechanics, physics, and programming, but they didn’t even notice this; the learning was a means to an end. . . showing design to be the best opportunity for a learning experience.” (Pesce, 2000, p. 93) **DJ** __- In the Classroom__ Pepperdine’s OMET Master’s Program is a great example because it provides an incredible virtual learning environment. Students engage in the virtual process of learning but also have hands on in-face interaction that provides a healthy balance needed for success. **KD** hildren and young adults use technology to explore and understand themselves. (Pesce, 2000,p. 65) “. . . she [Turkle] would point to a growing wealth of studies that show how the computer can engage us as intellectual partner, playmate, or artistic palette, types of interaction that demand self-expression by the very nature of their activity. We invest ourselves in our relationships with our computers, and from this we learn more about ourselves.” **DJ** A second critical link within this chain of academic philosophical reform is the growing realization and acceptance that emotional health is a critical factor in successful educational instruction. Emotional health and stability are foundational components in any well adjusted and socially productive individual “My main argument was that the elements of emotional intelligence -- being aware of our feelings and handling disruptive emotions well, emphasizing with how others feel, and being skillful in handling our relationship—are crucial abilities for effective living” ( Lucas, Goleman, 2002 **MT**). , - **BL** The MOO (as in Tapped-In) where students can keep a “virtual presence. . . participating in both the real-world activities of the lab and the online lectures, presentations, and informal discussion featured in MediaMOO.” (Pesce, 2000,p. 66) **DJ** __- In the School__ Children with special needs can communicate with other students without the fear of being stigmatized. They can share their feelings and concern about a disability. PatchWorx Web site is the place that they can share their stories, feelings and find a friend with common interest. **BN** Computers and email provide a fast, convenient, low cost way for parents, students and faculty to communicate (Tapscott, 1998) **KD** “We need to replace the teacher’s globe, a fixture in every classroom, with a living model of the Earth. . . one becomes immediately aware that political boundaries are, for the most part, entirely arbitrary, that the governments dividing people are figments of our cultural imaginations and have very little to do with the actual realities of life on this planet.” (Pesce, 2000,p. 244) **DJ** Finally, technology and philosophy are only tools. We have always had tools at our disposal. The key is to change people’s minds. As education professionals it is our duty to provide the leadership required to implement these effective instructional strategies. The entrenched educational instruction theories of past generations unfortunately still retard our intellectual progress towards wholeheartedly embracing student based interactive educational instruction. We now have more tools than ever before to project. Multimedia based inclusive instruction globally, this is very exciting. As educators we are the ambassadors and standard bearers charged with leading the way in the struggle to transform educational instruction into a partnership that prepares our children to meet the challenges of life in the 21st century“The surest way to create a better future for our nation, and thereby better the lives of our citizens, is through improving the quality of education over one’s lifetime, wherever and whenever this education takes place and whoever provides it. In all these avenues, we must exploit the wonders of new technology”(Lucas, Goldberg, 2002 **MT**). - **BL** Work and home have now become one in the same because we can be reached everywhere due to the advancements in technology. This is promising as we can relate this to the continuity of school and home as a result of the internet (Rheingold 2002). **HW** __- In the Community__ Virtual travel for students in the form of field trips to geographic locations around the world, to laboratories, or perhaps to visit with experts in numerous fields. (Pesce, 2000,Ch. 8) **DJ The virtual friend could help children, with the close supervision of caring adults, to become more nurturing adults. “When children can see their reflection, when they can come to explore and model their own behaviors on the outside world, they’ll develop the theories they need to become better adults. . .” (Pesce, 2000,p 72) **DJ**
 * GlobaLearn is an incredible example of ways technology can be used to further children’s education and global interaction. “GlobaLearn is an inspired company of young adults who travel the world and chronicle their journey through the eyes of children. GlobaLearn expedition team travels with state of the art electronic equipment, including portable computers, digital photo and video recorders, high-speed modems, and a mobile satellite transmitter.” (Tapscott, 1998) **KD
 * “Even as the universe becomes more flexible, we find that our presence within it, no longer fixed at a single point, can move seamlessly throughout the collected knowledge of humanity. We can place our eyes and hands into other worlds . . . and each site we visit will change how we think about the world. Virtual reality is the imagination realized, the hidden parts of ourselves brought into view. The World wide Web is a ubiquitous fabric of knowledge . . . Our children will come to apprehend a different reality than the one we inhabit . . . they will be granted a broader sense of self.” (Pesce, 2000,p. 270) **DJ**

=References=


 * McKenzie, Walter (2004, March 1). Are You a Techno-Constructivist?. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from [|http://www.educationworld.com] Web site: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech005.shtml
 * Negroponte, Nicholas (1998, March). Toys of Tomorrow. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from [|http://www.wired.com] Web site: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.03/negroponte_pr.html
 * Ricciardi, Lygeia A Glimpse of the School of Tomorrow?. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from [|http://www.papert.org] Web site: http://www.papert.org/articles/MaineYouthCenterArticle.html
 * Boyatzis, Goleman, &amp; McKee, (2002), Primal Leadership, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
 * Burns, J, M, (2003), Transforming Leadership, New York, NY: Grove Press.
 * Goleman, D, (1995), Emotional Intelligence, New York, NY: Bantam Books.
 * Lucas, G, Foundation, (2002), Edutopia, San Francisco, Ca: Jossey-Bass.
 * Above by Wikipedia Posting written Mitchel N. Townsend
 * The George Lucas Education Foundation (2002), Edutopia -- Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age. John Wiley &amp; Sons, San Francisco, California.
 * Moersch, Christopher (2002). Beyond Hardware: Using Existing Technology to Promote Higher-Level Thinking. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
 * The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, (2002). The Partnership for 21st Century Skills - Learning for the 21st Century. Retrieved August 24, 2006, from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Web site: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/P21_Report.pdf
 * Dede, Chris (2006, July). [Podcast] Chris Dede - BLC 2006 Day 3 Keynote. November Learning Communities Podcasts. Retrieved August 22, 2006, from http://nlcommunities.com/podcasts/1798/blc06/entry84465.asp
 * Rheingold, Howard (2003), Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, Cambridge, MA: Persus Books.

=Links= [|http://www.gamesforhealth.org] :A clearninghouse for health related games

[|http://www.gamesparentsteachers.com] : Helpful for parents and teachers who want to elevate the educational value of games

[|http://www.seriousgames.org] : Educatianal games for the classroom, companies, and the public sector

[|http://www.socialimpactgames.org] : About games for societal innovation

[|http://www.gamesforchange.org] : Another social innovation games site

[|http://www.timelands.com] : The website of a teacher named Tim Rylands who uses Myths in his classroom

[|http://www.odemagazine.com] : September issue on Games in Education titled, "The Future of Homework"

http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/mriel/edc641/readings.html : Additional readings from Margaret Riel's website

http://www.papert.org/%7Chttp://www.papert.org : Seymor Paperts website

[|http://GLEF.org] : Edutopia: The George Lucus Educational Foundation official website

[|http://ww.globalschoolhouse.org] : A virtual meeting place where educators, students, parents, and community members can collborate, interact, develop, publish, and discover learning resources

[|http://www.nasa.gov] : NASA offical website

[|http://www.jason.org] : The program started by Dr. Robert Ballard, a science and math, realtime learning environment

[|http://www.learner.org] : Teacher Professinal Development Program

[|http://www.casel.org] : A collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning

[|http://www.bayerus.com] : The Bayer Corporations official website

http://www.homeschool.com/top100/ : A list of the Homeschool.com's favorite 100 educational websites

[|http://www.sitesforteachers.com] : Just as the name emplies, a huge list of sites for teachers chosen by teachers

[|http://www.surfnetkids.com] : A guide to sites just for kids, safe and fun

[|http://www.Thinkquest.org] : A place where students think and work together _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Everything below this line needs to be reinserted into this format however you feel best about it. ii wasn't sure where to insert all the material. so i will leave taht up to each individual to decide. used allen and josh's format to organize this page. hope taht is ok with everyone. I realize all the ideas don't necessarily best fit in the category that they were put in. feel free to move them around or create a new category if thats what you think is best. if we don't like what i did trying to emulate josh and allens style please feel free to edit again. best of luck KD

+++Please Read - Posted Aug 24 (12:15am) - Okay everyone, MM posted some great suggestions on the Perils page that we should try to apply to this page. If you have posted on here already then you need to edit down your discussion to discussion points (like Behnaz) and use some sub categories as well. Everyone wrote some very interesting things (don't just erase it), I suggest you copy it and paste it on your site, the class forums or in your Blog. Remember that is not a Blog, so try not to write reflectively. I will put some examples of sub categories in the Index above. Please feel free to add, delete, or adjust as you see fit. Also Josh posted a suggestion at the bottom of this page that you should look at (when you do, notice what happened to his entry). - Allen +++


 * Kim Woolman: I posted under the discussion section in this topic. I learned a lesson, sign in first...don't just edit this page, even if it allows you too...without signing in. Enjoy!


 * I wrote and posted this on the forum but I thought I would cross post it here. Despite being on the "promise" of technology I found some issues that come through in the readings. Josh Burker

I have read the supplementary readings posted on the 641 page:

http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/mriel/edc641/readings.html

Additionally, there are some excellent readings on Seymour Papert's site:

http://www.papert.org

The reluctance of which I spoke in my earlier posting pervades the "promise of technology" readings that I completed. While students are ready dive right in and get their hands dirty, there is a hesitation on the part of teachers, I feel, because they lack the technology literacy, experience, training, and oftentimes resources necessary to properly engage and supply their students. I felt that Ricciardi's article "A Glimpse of the School of Tomorrow" (http://papert.org/articles/MaineYouthCenterArticle.html) where Seymour Papert and Gary Stager, among others, worked with incarcerated youth at the Maine Youth Center in South Portlant, exemplifies part of issue surrounding technology use in the traditional classroom setting. Here Papert, Stager and others are working to intergrate a program "based on exploration and intellectual freedom" into "an environment of enforced control and confinement." (Ricciardi, 2006) In many ways I think that this situation mirrors that of the traditional classroom where achievement is tied to standardized test results and the curriculum is infallable.

[from DG- 8.23.06 I think that Josh makes vallid and important points and that his sources are correct. I would add one thing form my observation. The teachers who are the unable to "think out of the box" regarding computers and technology often times are also unable to think out of the box regarding teaching and education itself. for example, they are often stuck in strict molds of teacher-student relationships, where they know and the student does not. They may now be intimidated that students may know more then them about technnology]

Furthermore, I feel that many teachers are stuck at what McKenzie, in "Are You a Techno-Constructivist?" (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech005.shtml), terms Stage 3, or "electronic traditionalists," educators who see implementation of technology in the classroom as "an extenion of traditional classroom functions." (McKenzie, 2000) Instead of thinking outside of the box and revising their instructional models to embrace the possibilities that technology offers, such as student-developed projects that capitalize on their interests and abilities in technology, they simply use the computers for rote drills, something I see often in the computer lab where I work. Ricciardi reports that Papert and others believe that "computers can facilitate learning because they adapt easily to a variety of learning styles." (Ricciardi, 2006) However, with a electronic traditionalist, this flexibility will never be exploited because of the rigidity of the teacher's own ways.

I see the challenge of integrating technology into the classroom as being inexorably tied to training teachers to fully integrate technology into the classroom. Teachers simply do not have the time, resources, or means of being properly compensated for the time, effort, and training necessary to achieve McKenzie's Stage 4, "techno-constructivist" level of technology competency. At this level technology is integrated into the curriculum to a point where it "complements and redefines instruction." (McKenzie, 2000) Students "build upon their own experiences, construct their own meanings, create products, and solve problems successfully." (McKenzie, 2000) In a system where teachers teach to standardized tests deemed necessary by NCLB and other backwards-thinking assessments, techno-constructivism is nothing more than a pipe dream. Teachers are stuck in the classroom, unable or unwilling to take the time to step into the virtual environment of the internet where interaction, virtual field-trips, simulations, and true collaboration might take place because they are held accountable for student achievement on standardized tests.

While Negroponte, Papert, Stager, and others pine for a day when students will define their own areas of interest and act upon them in a collaborative, supportive, and "personnally-defined" environment, they realize the reality of the situation. Teachers are not educated as teachers to fully integrate technology into their classrooms because NCLB and other state mandates do not value a personalized, student-led, multi-age learning environments. Furthermore, teachers are poorly compensated for their time and efforts and have little reason to seek out technology literacy on their own time and dime. Until the fundamentals of the education system are changed, i.e. a move to constructivist classrooms where students define their areas of interest and study, I can expect that experts such as Negroponte and Papert will continue to speak with hesitation about the promises technology have to offer the classroom.

McKenzie, Walter (2004, March 1). Are You a Techno-Constructivist?. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from http://www.educationworld.com Web site: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech005.shtml

Negroponte, Nicholas (1998, March). Toys of Tomorrow. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from http://www.wired.com Web site: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.03/negroponte_pr.html

Ricciardi, Lygeia A Glimpse of the School of Tomorrow?. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from http://www.papert.org Web site: http://www.papert.org/articles/MaineYouthCenterArticle.html

Barb Lolli Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age from the George Lucas Education Foundation

1. Technology in its many forms help all learners to think beyond the answers in the book. BL 2. Theme: think beyond what is there. BL 3. Books can help us as much as the Internet, software programs, hands-on activities, and yes even lectures when needed. It is a healthy use of all and understanding a broader definition of Technology. BL 4. Problem-based Learning (PBL) is one way to broaden students’ scope and use of technology. But it needs to be well planned out and reflects better the more the students and instructors experience it. BL 5. In the introduction to this book George Lucas quotes Dr. Allen Glenn, a professor and former dean of education at the University of Washington, “The biggest obstacle to school change is our memories.” BL 6. We need to not just follow a fad because it is new. We need to test the new add it to what we know works and then develop even better ways to educate our children. Envelop the whole brain and the whole child, not parts. BL 7. Edutopia promotes the “how to” and that final answers are not always the part that is important. BL 8. Technology is not going out of the main stream of education, but becoming more and more a part of it. It is what we do with it that will affect those we teach and those who observe. BL 9. Technology is a tool not the be all and end all. BL 10. The best examples of educational technology are when teachers challenge students to see it is not just the computer but the whole - broaden students' scope to see that everything is a part of educational technology - the environment, the games, the hands-on, the books, the lectures and on and on. BL

Kristen Zukley writes: I am reading: The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming Our Imagination by Mark Pesce. I am off to a good start because the book relates to some of my personal interests: toys, technology, and creativity. In undergrad I was seriously considering a career as a toy designer! Pesce explains that in ancient times kids were playing with sharpened sticks (an object which the child controlled with no feedback from the toy itself. More recently, however with the creation of the Furby (in the late 1990's) the toy has evolved into an object that asks for a child's attention and responds to the child with feedback. Since the Furby is designed to respond to movement and light (it has light sensor between his eyes, a third eye if you will (this reminded me of the sensors we used for our Lego-bot) it actually interacts with the child. For instance if the child rubs the Furby's back (sensing motion) it may make a nice sounding coo of approval. Not only is the Furby an amazing toy for kids to interact with the toy saved a soap star and her boyfriend from a fire. After the light sensor in the Furby was activated from a nearby dresser that was set ablaze by a candle that was not extinguished, the Furby started to make noise waking the couple, who quickly put out the fire.

There is also discussion on artifical intelligence. Robots that are programmed to move away from items that approach them to more sophisicated robots, who are able to recognize facial patterns of their "caregivers" i.e. happy, sad, anger. Pesce even discusses the fun he had programming his own Lego-bot creations. From what I have read so far, I believe the author thinks there is great promise in technology, not only in the creation of technological interactive toys and robots, but the world of the internet. I, too think there is great promise and a bright future for the playful world and the young at heart but, he also cautions that chat rooms or MOO's, multiuser dimensions, object oriented (65) on the internet allow users to create alter egos/different personalities. running the risk of dissassociative identity disorder (DID). I have had my own concerns with my high school students in chat rooms and myspace.com. There have been problems with students harassing each other online, especially on myspace. But since, I'm focusing on the positive here, I will save that for the Perils of Technology Discussion. All in all, I think technology could be positive if placed in the right persons' hands. Like almost anything in this world, take words for instance, they could be used to build up or tear down. I believe technology holds that same power ...it just depends on who's using it and how/why they are using it. I know my motivation is for good in the classroom and in this program, especially for the Action Research Project. We will all be given the opportunity to use technology for something good. For that, I am truly excited! Stay tuned... more to come. Kristen Zukley

Behnaz Nassernia writes:

Since my action research is about technology in elementary school, I decided to read something that is related to my AR. I’m reading four articles: 1. Changing how and what children learn in school with computer based technology 2. Children and computer technology 3. Five commentaries: looking to the future 4. Children’s media culture in the new millennium http://www.futureofchildren.org/information2826/information_show.htm?doc_id=69809__

I changed my essay to bullet points (Aug 23) 1. Technology not only helps students learn better, it also helps them to learn better things. For example, internet can help them with their homework and allow them to find out interesting and valuable things outside the classroom. 2. Computer can help students to involve actively in problem solving, analyzing information among each other; however, the most ineffective way of learning is from lecture and books that place student in a the passive role. For example, high school students from inner city, made an electronic yearbook to display for a local children’s museum. The result was positive effect on students such as task engagement and self-confidence. 3. Internet and digital video is another prominent tool to help student by encouraging collaborative work, which can help them to better understanding of the subject. 4. Children with special needs can communicate with other students without the fear of being stigmatized. They can share their feelings and concern about a disability. PatchWorx Web site is the place that they can share their stories, feelings and find a friend with common interest. 5. Learning maximized when there is an immediate feedback available. Computer support this learning. For example, Microcomputer-Based laboratory (MBL) is an instantaneously Line graphs showing the value of a variable over a period are used in mathematics and the sciences

To be continue... Behnaz Nassernia

Heather Walberg

I have changed my thoughts to bullet points!

I am reading Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, written by Howard Rheingold. I have truly enjoyed this reading as I feel I can relate with the book. Rheingold’s main theme is technology in relation to social networks. I am reading Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, written by Howard Rheingold. I have truly enjoyed this reading so far as I feel I can relate with the book. Rheingold’s main theme is technology in relation to social networks.

Here are the ideas I have gathered from reading:

Text messaging has changed the social dynamics of how we live and communicate. -This amazing technological advancement hints as to what we are looking at in the future. -You can communicate with a large number of people at the same time. -People are so busy that text messaging has become a convenience. -This hints as to what I believe the promise of technology is.

Promise of technology is… -for a better tomorrow. -in the regulation of technology. - in self-monitoring. -- Technology in itself is an action research project for the world. Without the continual reevaluation of tech we will be in a standstill. -in the cooperation and intelligence of groups. -- High levels of creativity can be accomplished in groups.

Technology has become a social network in itself. -This social network has improved and continues to improve our quality of life.

The future of technology depends on… - whether people will continue to contribute and give or if they will just take. - peer to peer communication. -- Group communication will be key to the advancement. - the continual improvement of technology.

With the Internet anyone can now be a publisher or an author which adds to the effectiveness of technology.

Work and home have now become one in the same because we can be reached everywhere due to the advancements in technology.

- Heather Walberg

Robert Martellacci, Information Technology for Learning: No School Left Behind by Ferdi C. Serim.

1. The author presents the notion of “Contemporary Literacy to prepare students for the 21st Century.” It’s an interesting notion and I draw the comparison to the slogan I coined “Digital Knowledge is the Power of the 21st Century”, on my website…www.mindsharelearning.com under the links header. I concur with the author in that I see the potential for prepare students to be digitally literate. I think of my elementary school-aged children and how the interact with technology and try to imagine the clock turning ahead 20years. I see tremendous possibilities. 2.Serim and I agree to date, there’s promises of technology have not bee fulfilled in improving student achievement. There is a lack of hard data to support and rationalize technology budgets. 3.The promise is as Serim suggests, that Contemporary Literacy include technology and information based problem solving. His vision –“Contemporary Literacy builds a bridge to connect to current approaches to technology and traditional literacy.” It is interwoven within the curriculum. Just as we see calculators embedded in math class, it becomes transparent to the user. Hence, I see the use of calculators in math as one of the best examples of education technology today. 4.Serim goes on to discuss a framework for initiating change that begins with a vision and leadership. Through efforts of Cerim and other leaders in the education space positive change can occur. I see greater collaboration and more sophisticated Distributed Learning Communities emerging to help facilitate best practices and more effective technology plan implementations, so to not “Leave Any School Behind,” as Serim’s book suggests, or any student for that matter. 5. Serim offers a practical step-by-step guide, moving from vision to practice in helping schools to remodel and adapt to the No Child Left Behind Legislation. He challenges the reader, “which models can guide us in moving from Promise to Practice?” 6.He chooses the Big 6 model (Eisenberg and Berkowitz (1990), as a model for successful information literacy implementations. Made up of a set of unified information and tech skills, they form a process that’s bee proven successful. “The Big 6 provide a broad-base, logical skill set that can be used as the structure for developing a curriculum or the framework for a set of distinct problem-solving skills,” says Serim. It serves as a foundation to higher level thinking. 7.One of the central strategies that I found of great interest in the book was Serim’s reference to Information &amp; Technology Teams—Leadership Through Teamwork as the most effective way to implement a strategy to allow for students to master contemporary skills. The team is made of key people at the school level: the principal, the library media specialist, the teacher leader, (as defined by Dr. Riel and Hank Becker as “Teachers who place a high value on sharing their knowledge with their teaching colleagues.” 8.The formation of technology teams is a strategy that has been proven to be successful. Serim’s book is peppered with real life examples. Timber Drive Elementary School is one example of a school that has achieved success with such an implementation; going beyond “how to use computers and how do I integrate technology as a tool for instruction and learning, suggests Serim. Does your school have such a team in place? 9.Serim believes that other schools in the nation can achieve the success of Timber Drive Elementary through shared vision, accountability and Leadership. 10. “NCLB fundamentally changes how education is paid for, and how technology fits into the process….what are the conditions under which technology improves student learning?” Serim sees this as a having significant potential for all educators. I like the notion that 25% of the funds are required to be spent on professional development which is an element that is often ignored or neglected and often results in failed implementations. 11.Information Technology Teams with the support of districts in providing the leadership, funding and technology plan (vision), have the capacity to be successful in building 21st century skills. 12. Timber Lake Elementary is an excellent case study and success story for schools to model around the nation. “We’ve worked our way on this path every day for the past five years, and we will never stop. Once you get over the illusion that you may someday arrive at technology integration, and realize that improvement is forever, it becomes quite exciting. We all say this is a work in progress and I hope we never stop saying it.” Mrs. Sue King –Pilot (Principal, Timber Lake Elementary).

I’ve enjoyed reading this book immensely; thanks to borrowing it from Dr. Riel. I now need to go purchase my own copy. I would consider changing the title to: Information Technology for Learning: No School Left Behind—An Essential Guide for School Principals and Administrators

"Promise of Technology" by Mitchel N. Townsend 8/8/06 11:15PM WIKI The promise of technologies influence upon the positive development of global education instructional philosophy is limited only by ones imagination and economic resources. As I read through the George Lucas Foundations book “Eudotopia” I was excited by the amount of work that had already gone into emulating and promoting this form of obviously effective educational instruction. This book lays out a very clear and effective blueprint for transforming our schools systems into student centered, community partnered organizations. As I read through this reading selection there were a few specific areas that touched upon immediate ways that we can begin to change the way we learn, and more importantly the way we teach our children to meet the challenges of life in the 21st century. Useful related Sites: http://GLEF.org One of the greatest barriers to effectively educating young people is an uninspired classroom managed by an equally uninspired instructor. Many times in the past classroom instruction was delivered within pre-determined and institutionally approved guidelines. Teacher and administrator flexibility in program development and instruction were determined by people who were less than interested in any new instructional theory or practice. What this later policy making group had failed to understand was that they were all pursuing the same goals just with different methodologies, some more effective than others. Student centered programs of participative academic inquiry have demonstrated that previous theories of practice could be improved upon substantially. The performance data being gathered and analyzed from some of these programs suggest that they can be very effective in transforming schools from disconnected entities to partners in the community. While the data is very promising it bears mentioning that technology and inclusive theories of relational interactive classroom instruction are only tools. Leadership is the engine that fuels the fires of innovative implementation and sustainable organizational reformative transformation. The first section titled “Innovative Classrooms”, beginning on page two, is a textual explanation of what some teachers have know for along time. That you have to enthusiastically engage your students and co-opt them within mutually satisfying instructional mechanisms that allows them to have responsibility and some control over their own educational experiences “Innovative classrooms are abuzz with productive discussion and the excitement of learning” (Lucas, 2002). This seems quite a simple concept and yet up until recently it has been rarely employed. This is a critical component in raising excitement and enthusiasm within our student population. The use of technology in this setting transports educators and their charges into new realms of education that are richly laded with the possibilities of unlimited inquiry. This is the enthusiastic promise of technologically when employed in educational settings. Useful Relates Sites: http://ww.globalschoolhouse.org/pr http://www.nasa.gov http://www.jason.org http://www.learner.org/north A second critical link within this chain of academic philosophical reform is the growing realization and acceptance that emotional health is a critical factor in successful educational instruction. Emotional health and stability are foundational components in any well adjusted and socially productive individual “My main argument was that the elements of emotional intelligence -- being aware of our feelings and handling disruptive emotions well, emphasizing with how others feel, and being skillful in handling our relationship—are crucial abilities for effective living” ( Lucas, Goleman, 2002). Unfortunately our educational institutions have failed to adequately address this very fundamental issue. The contribution written by the noted scholar Mr. Daniel Goleman is a wonderful introduction that illustrates the interconnectedness of emotional stability and health in effective humanistic based instructional strategies. Related Useful Site www.casel.org A third critical link is the need for strategic partnerships that includes all members of our communities. Parental involvement is also a critical element of this community based cooperative effort. The partnership cited in the above reading selection illustrated many examples of successful partnerships between K-12 schools and the business community “Volunteering “really enriches the way I feel about my job”, says pat Jacobs, a scientist in the coatings and colorants division who also direct the Pittsburgh effort. “You get so serious here at work working against deadlines. To be able to enjoy science from a child’s point of view is really renewing” (Lucas, 2002). Institutions of higher academic learning also play a very key role in this cooperative equation. Bringing to bear all of the assets of the community to craft and successfully implement transformational education reform is critical. Useful Related Sites: www.bayerus.com/msms/about www.nab.com Finally, technology and philosophy are only tools. We have always had tools at our disposal. The key is to change people’s minds. As education professionals it is our duty to provide the leadership required to implement these effective instructional strategies. The entrenched educational instruction theories of past generations unfortunately still retard our intellectual progress towards wholeheartedly embracing student based interactive educational instruction. We now have more tools than ever before to project Multimedia based inclusive instruction globally, this is very exciting. As educators we are the ambassadors and standard bearers charged with leading the way in the struggle to transform educational instruction into a partnership that prepares our children to meet the challenges of life in the 21st century“The surest way to create a better future for our nation, and thereby better the lives of our citizens, is through improving the quality of education over one’s lifetime, wherever and whenever this education takes place and whoever provides it. In all these avenues, we must exploit the wonders of new technology”(Lucas, Goldberg, 2002). Useful Related Site: www.nbpts.org References: Boyatzis, Goleman, &amp; McKee, (2002), Primal Leadership, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Burns, J, M, (2003), Transforming Leadership, New York, NY: Grove Press. Goleman, D, (1995), Emotional Intelligence, New York, NY: Bantam Books. Lucas, G, Foundation, (2002), Edutopia, San Francisco, Ca: Jossey-Bass. Above by Wikipedia Posting written Mitchel N. Townsend

Submitted by Kristen Zukley In today’s(August 9,2006) Yahoo.com news I discovered an interesting article and a video. Go to: http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?ei=UTF-8&amp;p=china+and+robot&amp;fr=&amp;c=news_photos to learn more about Rong Chen, a female robot, created by a team of Chinese engineers. There is also a link to create your own robots at: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_tutorial.shtml. I thought this tied in nicely to the book I’m reading by Pesce. He mentions quite a bit about the evolution of robots and the looks at them in a positive light in The Playful World. The inventors of the robot, I read about today, hope to use her as a receptionist at the science museum and hotels. more to come---Kristen Zukley

Kim Woolman - More of the Playful World by Mark Pesce "How Technology is Transforming our Imagination" (edited August 25, 2006)

Pesce discusses the evolution of how toys have enabled us to teach ourselves how to learn in a more sophisticated and artificial way. He talks about educational toys and how some of these toys have helped our children learn various skills such as touching, eye movement, laughter, sounds and many more. Pesce says that the "Furby is a toy that is based upon touch and feel very similar to reality. It's 'reactive, verbal and engaging' and all ages are responding to it. This is a strong example of how we combined technology and a toy to role model our behaviors in a positive and engaging way. According to Pesce, sensors to simulate human behavior. Will the evolution of toys help us determine who we will become, what careers we will have and stimulate our imagination to the point of no return?