Alternatives to Copyright?

I attended the EduCause conference last week. My top take aways came from the keynotes. Jim Collins applied Good to Great and Built to Last to the education field. And then the second day, we heard from Lawrence Lessig who spoke about Copyright. I initially thought that would be a rather boring keynote—but it was actually interesting and thought provoking. He is one of the founding members of the Creative Commons, www.creativecommons.org . The strategy he shared is to not fight current copyright law, but to create alternatives. Dr Lessig argues that the world has changed since copyright law was first written and it doesn’t apply to the connected world we live in.

A comment that struck a note with me was that we are turning our young people into criminals. He shared with us that these kids know they are breaking the law with music downloads, etc., however, they do it anyway. Between students I have taught and my own teenagers, I know they are creating a connected world that many of us “digital immigrants” have no idea how to even access.

Creative Commons provides a way for artists and customers to legally share creative works. There is a tiered approach so artists can control the amount of copyright permissions given. Some stuff is totally free, other stuff has some restrictions.

The publishing industry may be next on the agenda. There is a new company on the horizon, Flat World Knowledge. www.flatworldknowledge.com . They are offering digital textbooks with a new copyright system for authors. It will be interesting to watch!

And the Journey Begins...

We introduced our cell phone "clicker" system this month. I made a presentation at a local technology conference and then met with a university to share it with several faculty members there. It is both exciting and intimidating. So exciting to see a new technology in education that can make a difference. We are truly taking the device most-used by young people—the cell phone—and putting it to use in the classroom.

I think using the cell phone as a classroom response device is cool. I also think it is just the tip of the iceberg. I think we will come up with all kinds of ways to use the cell phone and it will become as integral to the class as the calculator or laptop.

I am also hopeful that it is will help with the digital divide. Not everyone can afford a laptop, but 99% of all students have a cell phone.

Our launch was intimidating because one never knows what the reception of a new product will be. I believe students will love it. I believe some teachers will love it, but know that there will be those who disagree with our thinking and those who are unsure.

It is quite the journey. One I am most grateful to be a part of. I have a great team to work with and can't wait to see what's next on our adventure.

To Text or Not To Text

We are just about ready to launch our software that allows students use text messaging to participate in the classroom. We have run a couple tests and I am surprised at how generational the use of text messaging is.

Anyone under 20 can text with their eyes closed. Anyone over the age of 30 finds it cumbersome and difficult. Same task, two very different experiences.
I am trying to think back over the years to see if there are other technologies that had such strong age discrimination and am having trouble finding them. The personal computer comes to mind, but its adoption really ran through all age categories. You could find early adopters at all ages.

Interestingly enough, email now has a reverse age demographic. People over the age of 65 are more likely to open an email message than a user under the age of 25. But email doesn’t answer my quest because for many years users of all ages used email extensively.

Social networking also comes to mind, but even though not many 30 somethings are using MySpace, they are using Facebook and LinkedIn. So, still no answer!

Use the comment field to report any technologies I am overlooking!

Televised Learning - The Next Generation

My colleagues and I are working on a project to create a system for using 3G cellular networks as a means of providing in-home distance learning to people around the globe. Whereas many homes do not have computers, they all have televisions. Most countries, even developing countries, also have a 3G cellular network for cell phone use and some are already up and running on 4G networks.

We want to move away from the $100 laptop to the $100 set top box so that learners can use the device that we have all come to know and love—the family television.

Distance learning has its history in the television with telecourses offered through public broadcasting. These courses were wildly popular before the Internet changed the landscape. So, what if we could incorporate the best of both worlds? What if we could bring together the appeal and comfort of the television with the 2-way interactivity of the Internet?

We are bringing together expertise from a variety of fields in order to bring our vision into reality. When we succeed, we will be able to change the “face” of education of by bringing it right into the homes of the disadvantaged, the underserved, the homebound, and the at-risk youth.

I will keep you posted on our progress!

Next-Gen Publishing

I am curious to see what the future holds for the good-old-fashioned textbook in higher education. When I was in college, I would not have even considered not buying the required textbook for a class. Now, statistically, one third of all students make that decision believing they can get through the class by getting information from other means (the Internet) or borrowing the text from a fellow classmate.

Educational publishers are also branching out into other industries, most notably distance learning and electronic resources. Many run their own course management system and Pearson now owns eCollege, one of the first course management systems commercially available.

If I could look into a crystal ball, here would be some my predictions for these publishing giants:

• Soft cover books will become the norm and black & white printouts on-demand will be the primary source for hard copy content.
• Textbook content will be available online for students to download—a repository so to speak. These books can be printed, read onscreen or read with an ebook reader such as the Kindle.
• Course management systems will be able to access textbook content virtually. Rather than download the content to a specific university server, the content will be accessed from a site, and appear to be an integrated part of the course.
• The bookstore will become a store for supplies and college branded clothes and paraphernalia as book sales move totally online.
• Costs will go down as advertising revenue begins to supplement profits.
• The relationship with textbook authors will change as they work to make content more elastic - like a living document - where versioning will be unheard of and will include input from teachers and students.

Only time will tell. Use the comment field to provide your own predictions.

The Pace of Change

I am finally moving to a Microsoft Vista machine. I held on to my XP machine for as long as I could and now I am moving to Vista just as Microsoft announces the launch of their next OS.
One of our computer technology teachers stopped by my office today. She is concerned about having to submit a schedule for next January when she can't even identify what version of each of the programs she is teaching will be current.

And, we are just wrapping up the programming of an application that works with PowerPoint 2007 only to hear that the next release of Office is due out within the year.
The joys of technology. The question is not “to be or not be” but “to keep up or give up.” Determining when and if to upgrade is always a challenging decision.

I spoke to an instructor today who said she is in so many beta programs that she is accustomed to seeing a feature here today, gone tomorrow as programmers fine-tine software in its final stages. Personally, I don’t want to be the first person to use something, but I also don’t want to be the last. Timing your entrance into a new technology is as individual as the car you drive.

There are also several ways to find out about all of these new releases. Personally, I like email newsletters. Daily reminders that keep me informed about educational technology as well as general computing. I know others who prefer RSS feeds or good-old-fashion word-of-mouth.

Some of my favorite newsletters include Campus Technology (www.campustechnology.com) and Educause Reports (www.educause.edu) for education. I also find it helpful to sit in on a few vendor presentations (live or webinar) now and then to see what kind of technology is up and coming.

However, even with all of the frustrations of the speed of change in technology, I wouldn’t trade industries for anything. At least there is never a dull moment.

Use the comment field to share your preferred timing for jumping on a new version--early adopter or a laggard?

The Up Side of a Down Turn

An economic downturn comes with both positives and obvious negatives. One of the positives is that people go back to school. They go back to school in order to refine, renew, or explore skills and passions. In many ways, it is like a cleansing of the soul. We get lost in the day to day existence of our work and when we are suddenly faced with the need to revisit our dreams, it can be viewed as an excellent opportunity!

I am currently reading the Passion Test by Janet and Chris Attwood. I am not job hunting or renewing my skills, but looking for that which brings me joy. We are fortunate to have a plethora of self-help books on finding the right job or career--the most famous being What Color is Your Parachute. I also found Finding Your North Star by Martha Beck to have very practical information for discovering and then pursuing your dream.

There are also several online tools for finding the right school. College Board www.collegeboard.com provides a good tool and most states have web sites providing information on local universities and colleges.

We are fortunate in this country to have so many options for education and an environment where innovation and change are not only accepted, but expected.

Use the comment field to share stories about following new careers choices or tools for exploration.

Advancing Technology?

When we think of innovation, we often think of technology. A colleague of mine, however, said she believes online learning will move away from feature-full learning management systems like Blackboard  toward a more organic notion of learning with tools like twitter and pbwiki.

It gave me food for thought. If we think about learning in this context, it actually becomes more flexible, but less “organized.” This makes me go back to the need for individualized learning. There are learners out there who succeed and thrive in environments like Blackboard. Others don’t. If we adopted a more open environment, yet a different set of learners would excel and we might leave the current Blackboard learners in the dust.

No answers here, just exploration. We are fortunate to live in a time with choices and innovation and new tools to try every day. Speaking of such, I haven’t logged in to Twitter for over a week now. Better get twittering (or is it tweeting?).

The Space In Between

I recently read The Whole Brain by Daniel Pink. In his book, Pink discusses the role of creativity in the work place and suggests corporations today need creative problem solving expertise on the payroll. He shares stories from large companies that are hiring individuals with MFAs to sit on product development teams and problem-solving committees.

So what are we doing with our children to encourage creativity? I would like to think every child has the opportunity to enjoy the traditional classes considered creative: art classes that include drawing, painting and three-dimensional work; music; and dance. These classes provide acceptable environments for exploration and individual expression (usually).

But what about in math class or language arts? How much individual freedom do we provide our students? And do we encourage them to think creatively?

There has been a push for critical thinking in education, but what about creative thinking? How do you teach creativity? How do we help children to see that there may be an answer to a problem "in between" the two obvious solutions?

I was in my thirties before I started stretching my mind and considering other possibilities in addition to the obvious choices. Having my own children helped a lot. They can be very creative with solutions if you listen. For example, when deciding whether or not to attend a specific function there are the obvious choices--go or don't go. But is there something in between? Could I go for just part of the event? Could someone go for me and report back? It opened a wide range of possibilities when I started to consider the "gray" area between the common black and white solutions we are given in most circumstances.

As we move into a decade where we are searching for many answers to some pretty big problems, the creative solutions that will be required have to come from somewhere. I suggest we look to our children and I suggest we look to our schools to create environments where creative thinking is valued and encouraged.

"The significat problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking with which we created them."

-Albert Einstein (attributed)

Use the comment field to share examples of creative problem-solving or unusual solutions.

Into the Wilderness

I am currently working on a project that entails collaborating with cell phone companies and the unique industry that revolves around this service. I think the cell phone is by and large the technology of choice for people between the ages of 14 and 35 and we need to find innovative and pedagogically helpful ways to incorporate them into the classroom.

This journey into the world of the cell phone industry, however, is not for the light of heart. The industry is young and pricing models, fees, and service levels have not quite settled into predictable and user friendly arrangements.

I suspect, though, that any new industry is going to be fraught with these hurdles AND that these same hurdles can be overcome. Any great advancement has been led by pioneers who are willing to endure sleepless nights, deadline delays, budget overages, and software bugs.

I continue to focus on the end of the journey, one where we have students engaged in classroom activities and enthusiastically using their cell pones as learning tools. Where teachers easily incorporate the tool into the curriculm and find its use advantagous to the learning process. And, where an industry and society accept the device as something that belongs in the classroom, not something to keep in one's locker or pocket.

Hopefully that day is right around the corner. But for today, I am making my way through the wilderness of software development in the world of SMS aggregators, developers, cell phone carriers, and system errors with machete in hand!

User Interface Blues

I spent the last few days immersed in a course management system. It is a good application overall but I was interestingly relieved when I saw interface inconsistencies—made me feel a little less concerned with the perfection of the product I am working on.

I have a great team of developers through ACAP Global working tirelessly to bring about my vision of perfection. The whole process of designing and developing software has been a learning opportunity for me. I have spent most of my adult life teaching people how to use all kinds of software applications from Web 2.0 tools to Adobe Photoshop. The ability to easily adopt a new tool is one indicator of its quality and often the reason for its success. I am therefore attempting to create this attribute in our new product.

Teachers in particular need tools that are easy-to-use and easy-to-learn. I know there are many professionals who are overworked and underpaid, but teachers have to rank near the top. Their jobs never end as they grade papers at night, plan for the next day, or have phone calls with parents. The last thing they want is to have to spend lots of time learning a new technology.

Educational technology is getting a fair amount of press with the stimulus bill. Here’s to easy-to-use, easy-to-learn technology for educators!

Use the comment field to share some of your favorite technology tools.

Of Roses and Radishes

In times when we are working through an economic downturn, we have the opportunity to do some self reflection and some system-wide reflection to see where we are being efficient and where we might be able to trim some fat.

In education, where funding is often set to “just enough” anyway, we have the opportunity to turn ourselves into a well-oiled machine that uses just what we need and no more. This philosophy is also in keeping with our celebration of Earth Day yesterday—how can we thrive on the planet and use just what we need?

One way to analyze, is to look at our objectives and determine what the best way to meet those objectives is. Let’s assume our primary objective is to educate our population in order to create a vibrant, well-adjusted society. With that objective in mind we need to look at the needs of each individual learner. How do we best address the personal needs of each learner so that they blossom into the vibrant individual that supports a well-adjusted society?

We can liken the process to a garden. We address the watering and daylight needs of each individual flower and plant to meet its needs. We do not care for the rose the same way we care for the radish and yet both require care and feeding and both contribute to the beauty of our garden.

So how do we address the individual needs of learners in a traditional system where we ask each learner to meet the same set of standards at exactly the same time? In other words, how do we start taking care of the roses as roses and the radishes as radishes?

For starters, we acknowledge the benefits of having a diverse student population. We begin to break down the walls that are instituted by defined grade levels, score cards, and set standards. We listen to both the learner and to our own instinct as to what is best for each individual. We create environments that are conducive to self-directed learning and provide resources that address various learning styles and passions.

If you know of environments in K-12 or higher education that approach this vision, I would love to hear from you! We want to make sure that innovation continues even as we move through the current downturn towards a bright future. Please use the comment field or email me at woulfe@comcast.net

Pepsi University???

Funding for education is on my mind these days as the state of Colorado struggles with the challenge of how to continue to fund higher education in a state that is notorious for being 49th in funding for this service. Only because of the punitive threat of the federal government withholding stimulus money has the governor and legislation stepped up to the plate to figure out how to support this very important social requirement.

As we look at the future of education, what does the future of higher education look like? Do we continue to pursue the dream of giving everyone the opportunity to seek a college degree or do we limit it to those who are academically superior or financially capable?

A colleague of mine suggested that we make college free and support it through advertising. It seems to be the funding model for all new ventures these days! Maybe we could support the state budget on advertising revenue (smile).

I am optimistic that we will find a solution to our budgetary woes and fund education as it needs to be funded. We value the contributions it makes to our work, our families, and to the quality of life in general. The best investment you can make in yourself is education. Spread the word.

The Forbidden Fruit

The CTIA Wireless Conference (http://www.ctiawireless.com/) was in Las Vegas this week. I didn’t attend this year, but was present a year ago. The mobile phone industry is still a vibrant industry even in these economically troubled times and I hold great hope for what it can provide to not only our personal lives in general, but to education specifically.

My company, Acadium, (www.acadium.com) is working on a mobile phone based technology that will empower learners in the classroom by creating an interactive, engaging environment. Similar to the current “clicker” systems, learners will be able to respond to the teacher’s questions with simple answers, or slightly longer opinions. I think we are just scratching the surface on how this technology will used in education and I am very excited about the potential.

Another interesting company is LocaModa (www.locamoda.com). Their emphasis is not education, but they have some ingenious games and interactive services that also shed some light on what the future might hold for the wireless/mobile phone industry and how it can be used as a learning tool.

There is even a book on the market, Toys to Tools by Liz Kolb. Kolb describes ways to use the cell phone in a K-12 classroom.

Some teachers think it is blasphemy to bring the cell phone into the classroom. I think it is only a matter time. Remember when calculators were forbidden?

Let me know what you think!

A Place to Learn

Blog03-27-09
Ever wonder what the perfect classroom would look like? Would it even have desks? Would it look more like a home? Would it look more like an office?

I have seen a few classrooms that “feel” right. One is at my daughter’s high school. The room is full of color, texture, and interesting things to look lie. It is a history teacher’s room and even the panels on the ceiling have been painted by students with scenes depicting historical events.

I think the perfect classroom would include lots of “texture” like this history classroom. I think the variety stimulates our brains. And when our brains are stimulated, or awake, we learn more, we remember what we have learned.

Most elementary schools have very rich classrooms. I am not sure why we don’t continue the trend as children grow older.

Teenagers also seem to gravitate to classrooms that have comfortable furniture. Many times the classrooms of drama/theater teachers have comfortable furniture if only because it serves as storage for set props! It is a popular place for students to gather—it feels like home.

We have seen this same trend in bookstores and libraries—comfortable furniture is inviting! I would argue that when we feel relaxed and comfortable, we are also able to absorb more information.

Its fun to imagine what the classroom of the future might look like—maybe it’s part traditional classroom, part office, part living room!

Share your thoughts!

Appreciation

I spent the better part of last Thursday in conversations and reading documentation that in essence “bashed” our current education system. As anyone reading this blog knows, I am always looking for ways to improve on what we do and to find better ways to reach our students. I do suspect, however, that criticizing the current system is not in our best interest.

I am a fan of Appreciative Inquiry. This is a mode of operation for finding solutions. It was initially used by the CWC in times of crisis because they found through experience that focusing on what is currently working leads to a quicker solution in contrast to determining what’s wrong and how to fix it.

David Cooperrider wrote some of the early books on the topic and there are several institutes around, including one right here in Boulder, Colorado. www.positivechange.org

So if we took some time and explored what is working in education today, maybe we will find the answers to a better education system for tomorrow. I would like to suggest following list as some areas that are currently working well:

• Teachers—I think most of the teachers in the field are committed to what they do and really care about their learners.
• Options—state and federal governments are finally supporting options of all kinds including charter schools, distance learning options, and home schooling.
• Families—more families are supporting learners in their educational endeavors. Parents are realizing the importance of education worldwide and are increasingly supportive.
• Individualization—the Internet, third party organizations, and increased staff at many schools provides learners with the ability to individualize their learning.
• Collaboration—from my perspective there is a greater amount of collaboration between learners and between teachers.

Use the comment field to add to my list!

21st Century Learning

One of the greatest endeavors in life is the pursuit of new knowledge. Therefore, one of the most important things we can share with students of all ages is the love of learning. The high-stake testing that is currently consuming our district is a bit frustrating. We are pretty much losing 2 weeks of class time to test students in 3rd through 10th grade on facts and figures. I recall a student survey from a few years ago where students were asked about school. We did receive many encouraging answers, but we also received several not so encouraging answers such as “so we can do good on the CSAP” (CSAP is the standardized test here).

As we embrace the next millennium, we need to consider how we can best serve the upcoming generations. Do we continue to education them the way we have always educated children? Do we open our hearts and minds to new ways of educating; perhaps even changing the very definition of what it means to be educated? I have mentioned this before, but the high drop-out rate of high school students in our country is abysmal. It is clearly a symptom of a system that is not working.

In this blog I want to share innovations that are being used throughout the country to expand student thinking and learning. I want to hear about new technologies and new strategies.

Please use the comment field to share your ideas on what a 21st century education should look like.

Sunshine on My Shoulders

We are having a gorgeous spring day in Colorado and it reminds me of the importance of taking education out into the world. I am going to reference John Medina’s Brain Rules (www.brainrules.net) book again because it supports our human desire to be outside rather than sitting behind a desk, in a cubicle or in a traditional classroom. The Montessori teaching principles also encourage teachers to take their learners out into the world.

Our local school district takes sixth graders out to a camp once during their elementary years. The charter Montessori school, Compass Montessori, www. compassmontessori.org in that same district takes their elementary school students on 6 outdoor trips during 4th through 6th grades.

By getting students out of the classroom and into the real world, we create a rich learning environment—one our brains pay attention to. And, when our brains are paying attention, we are more likely to remember the information.

I know not every school has the budget for field trips. There are non-classroom alternatives besides field trips and camping outings. What about starting a garden at your school? There are so many lessons to be learned in the process of preparing a garden, planting and harvesting. Another Montessori school in our district has a farm for middle school and high school students.

Other activities include:

• Cooking – groups of kids can work with parent volunteers to learn about cooking which includes measuring, chemistry, calculations, and more.
• Walking - take field trips to local parks and educational venues.
• Internships – the more children can be exposed to professional environments, the more likely they are to stay in school.
• Volunteering – service learning has become popular over the last few years. See http://www.servicelearning.org/

Use the comment field to share other ideas for getting out of the classroom.

A Rose by Any Other Name…

Humans are natural explorers. We are driven to go from crawling to walking because of the need to explore. In younger children the challenge for parents is to find the right balance between allowing them to freely explore their world and keep them safe. We also have to factor in social norms. Small children explore through touch so how do we keep the shopkeeper from grimacing and yet still let our children explore their surroundings and the products within the shop?

As children grow older, the balance changes. Now teachers struggle with trying to balance a child’s natural curiosity and need to explore with things like state standards, standardized testing and grade-level requirements. The drop-out rate in the United States has been steadily on the rise—an indicator that we are regressing rather than evolving. Could this stifling of our natural desire to explore be a part of the problem? If we have a young person fascinated with music, songwriting, poetry and the creative expression available through those means, what happens when we make that person sit through hours of algebra and chemistry? What happens to their spirit? Their motivation? Are they likely to want to stay in that environment?

The opposite holds true. There are students passionate about math and science who are asked to sit through hours of writing, reading and art.

The answer is not to throw everything away, we want our young adults to have a general understanding of the world around them and there is much to learn about science through the study of art. However, what we may want to do is to encourage more choice and flexibility in our K-12 education system. Many people, if they make it through high school, flourish in college often times because they get to pick their major—they finally get to spend their time studying what they are interested in. Could we get more kids into college if we introduced that concept earlier?

Fortunately there are options available and they are growing all of the time. The charter school system in the United States is robust and growing. Organizations are evaluating the need to improve public education. (See the Center on Reinventing Public Education http://www.crpe.org.) The advent of distance learning programs give students the ability to expand their curriculum with courses not offered at their home schools. And finally, educating parents and counselors on the need to honor and encourage the individual gifts of each person will go a long way in providing learners with the support they need to flourish.

After all, we wouldn’t even think to force the daisy into the shape of the rose.

Classroom Engagement

I know I keep harping on brain research but it is a topic that fascinates me. One of the key elements of having information “stick” in a learner’s brain is the level of engagement the learner has in the learning process. As I work with teachers, the motto that I usually share with them is, “whoever does the work does the learning.” What I mean by that is if a teacher does all of the research in preparation for a class, the teacher does most of the learning. Whereas if a teacher assigns the topic research to the learners, then the learners are actively participating in the learning process.

So what are some innovative ways to engage students?

Learner-generated content. User-generated content is a big buzz-word these days, especially with the explosion of web applications like YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) and MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/) . Young learners love the opportunity to create their own content. Encourage learners to participate in the subject matter by recording videos on a handheld camcorder, or voice recordings on their cell phones. Traditional media works too. Provide them with information on how to use paints, pencils, cameras, and clay to explain or represent information.

Role playing. Get your students up and moving. Have them role play historical events. Have them interview each other playing specific roles in government, industry, history, or future. You could invite a student to come back from the year 2030 and let the class know what the world is like!

Imagination. Albert Einstein was quoted as saying “Imagination is more important than Knowledge.” http://thinkexist.com/quotes/albert_einstein/ and another favorite: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Ask your students topic-related questions that will get their imaginations working. Remember, if the brain is engaged in the process, learning is more likely to “stick.” Here are some sample questions:

• If the world were flat, what changes would we have to make?
• If dolphins (input any animal) ran the world instead of humans, what would our world be like?
• If children made all of the rules, what would our homes, schools, communities be like?
• What would it be like if we had eyes in the back of our heads (input any biological different)?
• What if we could fly?

There are an unlimited number of questions you can ask to get their imaginations going!

Use the comment field to ask for suggestions to get your students engaged on a specific topic!

Social Video on TV

Video conferencing has made its way into the halls of education. We have several tools available now that are specifically designed and marketed to education. The top three vendors include Wimba, Elluminate, and Adobe Connect. All three offer features and tools specific to the needs of educators.

So why use video conferencing in an educational setting? There are several scenarios where it makes sound pedagogical sense:

• When there are students at a distance who would benefit from interacting synchronously with a teacher or classmates
• When travel is too costly or time consuming
• When there is a large, disperse audience.

So what does the future of video conferencing hold for us? I foresee a day when video calling replaces telephone calls. Office phones and cell phones will automatically incorporate a video component. Today in the U.S. you can experiment if you have two AT&T customers with Video Share (www.wireless.att.com/source/videoshareflash) capabilities and in other parts of the world video conferencing is common-place on cell phones.

There will also be systems within the home—probably television-based. The television, however, may not be what we know as a television today. It will serve more as a monitor for viewing movies, watching live broadcasts, taking classes, and playing games. I have started a company, Acadium, Inc., (www.acadium.com) that is researching the technology necessary to reach people in their homes, using their televisions and global networks.

The networks available to us are evolving everyday and I believe we’ll continue to see faster speeds and more options. These networks, whether they are supported by fiber, cell towers, or satellites will open the door to a wide range of options for education. The webcam connected to the laptop will one day sit in the hall of fame with the Commodore computer as we grab our remote, select a station, and sit down in the living with a cup of coffee to begin class.

Use the comment field to share your ideas on the future of video conferencing,

Visual Aids | Evolved

Educational practices from the past consisted of large groups of learners, all in one room learning a single topic. At any give minute some of the learners were fully engaged, others were half listening and still others were off in a completely different world thinking about friends, the parity scheduled for Saturday night or the argument they had that morning.

So how do we address this disparity in attentiveness? One way is to bring everyone into the conversation with a common focal point. In many classrooms today that is done with a two-dimensional projected image on the screen also referred to as PowerPoint. What if the focal point were something more real—more three dimensional? What if every classroom became more of a lab environment? If we could engage learners with something from their actual experience we would trigger that part of the brain that says “pay attention, this is real, this is important.”

It will take some creativity on the part of teachers but brain research indicates that we can do a lot better job of engaging learners and transferring knowledge if we pay attention to how the brain works. A book by John Medina, Brain Rules (www.brainrules.net) provides twelve brain functions that, if given consideration, could change the way we teach and learn and work. The principle of survival reinforces the brain’s need to analyze the environment and decide what is important and what is not.

We are three dimensional beings and we are “wired” to pay attention to a three dimensional world. So what would that look like in a classroom? The sciences are easy—we already do dissections and lab experiments, but what about the social sciences and language oriented topics? What about math?
Maria Montessori recognized the importance of “physical” learning. Children learn math in a Montessori classroom with colored beads, abacus-like tools and other manipulatives. What if teachers brought in dice when studying statistics? Or models for exploring algebra?

Here are some other examples of how to turn a classroom into a living 3-D learning environment — one worthy of our learners’ attention.

• In a political science class, bring actual flags and accouterments that represent a population.
• Bring a theatre environment into language arts where learners can get out of their seats and act out what they are learning.
• Have available actual spheres, cubes, and cones that learners can touch while learning geometry.
• In discussions and debates, have a physical object like a gavel that is passed from speaker to speaker.

Use physical metaphors in the social sciences. When talking about change, have learners step over a line or through a doorway to symbolize the transition.

Every day that a teacher walks into a classroom, he or she simply needs to ask—“What is available to me that is physical in nature that will bring a sense of the real world to my classroom?” The more we can get our learners to touch, feel, and visualize something from the real world that is associated with our topic, the more likely their brains will identify the information as being important and something to remember.
Use the comment tool to provide additional ideas. Or, post a classroom topic and the community can assist in determining how to enhance the discussion with an evolved visual aid. I would love to hear from you!

Choice in Education

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could take your favorite classes from your favorite instructors? What if you could get the best economics instructor from the top economics school and then combine that class with the top physics instructor in the country? The Internet has made it possible for consumers to get exactly what they want, now we are making it possible for learners to “shop” for the classes they desire.

I have been peering into my crystal ball for a few years now and watching a future where college students would be able to create their own degree, pulling the best courses from the best schools and the best teachers. Well, now we are finally starting to see just how a system like that might work. There is a new consortium out of the midwest—Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance or GP IDEA (www.gpidea.org). There are currently 11 universities involved. A student selects one of the universities as a “home” school and then they can take classes for credit from any of the other 10 schools.

I support this idea. Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori teaching tradition, coined the phrase “follow the child.” What she meant by this statement was what many are saying today with phrases such as “follow your bliss” or “follow your heart.” By allowing learners to create and design their own programs of study from a wide range of courses and teachers we are allowing them to follow their passions. We are honoring the unique gifts of each student and letting them express their interests. People perform better when they are doing what they enjoy—they perform better in school, at work, and find more joy in life.

Take a few minutes and remember your favorite teacher and then imagine the impact he or she could have had if given the opportunity to reach more students! What if they could reach outside the walls of your school and share their expertise and enthusiasm with others around the country or even around the world.

I encourage your comments and please share other projects that empower choice in education.

Welcome

There is a future where education leaves the traditional concept of rubber stamping each child with a "complete" stamp at the end of 12th grade and moves to one where we maximize human potential by celebrating and supporting the unique passions and gifts of each individual.

Rather than appearing out of no where, this transformation will appear in small steps—a teacher here, a new technology there, until one day we wake up and all children love learning, find their inspirations, and share their joy and passion with the world.

I want to document those small steps here and open up a conversation about what's working.

Join me!

Rebecca