Technology In Education Online

I’m sitting at the Technology Showcase here in Atlantic City watching the excitement people have shown learning about how using a Moodle and Joomla in their school can open up new opportunities.  The major complaint I’ve heard from people is how restrictive their school districts are when it comes to allowing Web 2.0 tools.

We have to move away from this idea.  Students are leaving us behind when it comes to this technology.  My question is where is the evidence to show that allowing students access to these tools is detrimental?  Instead of restricting students, we should be teaching students how to use these tools responsibly. 

Another thought is how much is this related to not really knowing what all of this about.  Sometimes when people don’t know their first tendency is to lock everything down.  Don’t they understand that it really is OK not knowing everything. In this day and age how can anyone expect to know all of this?

Finally, I think in some instances it really is about power and control. If I dictate what is allowed and what isn’t allowed I am in a very powerful position. This is sometimes the unspoken word behind the reason we become so restrictive. Information is power.

Somehow we must find ways to reach administrators and technology coordinators to break down these barriers.  There needs to be a reeducation of decision makers and a grass-roots effort by educators to change this attitude towards Web 2.0 tools. Those that restrict these tools are missing out on a great opportunity to create a more constructivist approach to education.

OK, here is my frustration…I ‘ve been presenting at conferences on a regular basis for the past couple of years. I’ve setup my website and Moodle. Since setting up my Moodle I’ve had people register from all around the world.  I’ve set up discussion forums, encouraged people to participate, share their ideas, ask questions, etc. The results? Not much participation. So the question becomes (OK, this is where the pity party comes in): How much energy do I put into creating my website and Moodle if I’m having to guess what educators’ needs are? Or, what they would like to see on both sites. I know people are busy with their lives, but I think we need to encourage ourselves, as educators, as much as we encourage our students, to be active participants in our own learning.  If we remain passive receptors of information, how does this encourage learning?  So if there is anyone out there that has some suggestions, I’m listening!

OK, so I maybe a little late to the revolution but I’ve got the religion now! Open source is my new found call to arms!  The latest- Joomla!  A great open source resource used to create a website.  In looking at a collaborative approach to web development I looked at several options – Joomla!, Drupal, DotNetNuke, and Mambo.  I settled on Joomla! after setting up some test sites and running through the various options.

At a recent NJAET executive board meeting I demoed a mock site I set up using Joomla! and people were amazed out the power behind it and what it can do.  With the additional extensions that are available, and the ease that they install, I’m convinced that utilizing a CMS is the best solution.  My goal to find ways for educators to collaborate and not work in isolation.  The great thing about Joomla! is that no one needs to be the sole source of disseminating information.  You now have the option to assign a variety of roles to individuals. You can have users, authors, publishers, administrators, etc. all contributing to creating an active website. For those that like to be in charge it means giving up a little bit of the power to allow others to participate. So all of you control freaks out there take a deep breath and plunge right in. You’ll find it all works out for the better in the long run.

As time moves along I find myself moving away from the mega software publishers to open source solutions.  The great thing also is there is a whole new industry out there of people developing additions to these great open source software solutions.  Some of the additional extensions are commercial products. But I’m more open to spending a little to support these developers than continued to feed those hungry giants out there.  So if you’ve been contemplating a transformation of your website, take a look at one of these open source CMS programs.

How often has this saying been used these days? There comes a time when a cleaver saying becomes more of a cliché than actually having meaning. “Thinking Outside the Box” has now officially entered into my cliché database.  This term is bantered about in education more often than any other saying today.

But here is my thinking. Maybe thinking outside the box isn’t really thinking outside the box. Maybe we’ve got it all wrong and the outside is in and inside is out. We are so locked into educating to perpetuate the status quo that anything outside of teaching to the test is thought of being some type of outside the box experience. And then we wonder later on why people are so enamored with these 30 second sound bites.

It is as if all of those multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the blanks tests has prepared us not to question anything. Just get the quick answer and don’t scratch below the surface to explore any further.  We learn that the answer must be a, b, c, or d and then carry this over to adulthood accepting those 30 second sound bites as fact. Never questioning beyond the surface.

So, perhaps we are already thinking outside the box and that is the problem.  If we really want to move education beyond this state, we must move our teaching methods towards a more applicable experience for our students.  Utilizing concepts put forth with Web 2.0 tools is just one avenue to explore in making education a more interactive experience.

Today’s theme has been my quest today. All sessions I’ve attended have been Web 2.0 related.  If I were highlight the day I’d say there are just an incredible amount of “cool” stuff coming out all of the time related to Web 2.0.  Just when I thought I was catching up to things, something new comes along.  The run down of sessions today:

Starting off the morning attending Alan November’s presentation: “Cultivating a World-class Work Ethic”.  If I were to reflect back on the session the key thing is that we must think of our learning from a multitude of perspectives.  If we study, for example American History, do we only source out of Google only from an American perspective?  Do we, with all of this technology available, open ourselves up to a more global perspective?  And if we restrict what we teach and our approach to how we teach  what are we preparing our students to become.  There are so many great things available to students today, especially with Web 2.0 tools that by placing all of these barriers in our educational approach we don’t create life-long learners.  We are leaving our students the job of teaching themselves outside of school. Students must and should have a say in their own education.

The remainder of the day I spent going to various Web 2.0 sessions.  I think when you talk about creativity and empowerment Web 2.0 is the future….for now. Who knows what the next big thing is coming around the corner!  This can be looked at in two different ways: 1) Why learn this stuff if it is going to be passe in no time, or; 2) This is some exciting stuff and it allows me to continue to bring in new ideas to students!  People were talking about YouTube, Digg, Blogs, Second Life, Habbo & Club Penguin, MySpace,  and Facebook to name a few. The whole idea is taking a bottom down approach rather than a top down approach towards education. Forget about memorization and regurgitation. Let’s move away from this focus on standardization especially since we can’t even get the “experts” to agree what these standards are and how we measure students’ progress.

The final thought of the day is this: If we talk about transforming our teaching methods with Web 2.0, we must think about how we teach ourselves.  If we are attending conferences, I think we need to develop conferences more towards being interactive and hands-on.  People may argue that with larger conferences this is an impossible task.  However, lets’ think about how a conference might work/ look differently. Attendees come to the conference, for those that don’t have a laptop, attendees are given a loaner system to take with them throughout the conference.  An attendee walks into a session, round tables are setup where people sit down, open up their laptop, and begin to walk through using these Web 2.0 tools.  How can we afford this?  I’ve seen vendors, such as Gateway, Dell, and HP, at the conference. Why not tap into their resources to provide the loaners?  The same with software. We have Apple and Microsoft at the conference. Why not have them participate in this process to provide the operating systems.

Actions speak louder than words! Why not re-invent our conferences and make them more like what we talk about when we talk about Web 2.0 philosophical approach to learning.  Let’s remove the chairs lined up in rows and create a a round table experience with a more collegial, interactive experience!

Something that has got me thinking lately is how technology is being used today in the classroom. From student management systems to Accelerated Reader, teachers are finding the convenience of technology to beneficial. But the question must be asked, how is this benefiting students and the educational process? It is with a bit of apprehension I raise this question. I don’t want this to be an opportunity to “blame the teacher.” However, more of a reflective questioning of where we are going with technology. The idea of using testing software that comes with some of the text books has also been another technology tool teachers have felt to be beneficial. Or the rationalization that “I’m continuing to use this software because students are used to it or comfortable.” Is it the students or the teacher? Ok, not to get everyone up in arms. Granted teachers have been burdened with more and more responsibilities over the years. However, do we use the technology to reduce the workload regardless of the long term effects? Take for example Accelerated Reader (AR). Teachers will talk about the program boosting students interest in reading. However, how often had the program been used as a convenient tool to dismiss the reflection and analytical aspects of reading. It isn’t to say AR is good or bad, but more on the implementation of the program. As Sadusky and Brem indicate in their study, “The Integration of Renaissance Programs into an Urban Title I Elementary School, and its Effect on School-wide Improvement” , point out “These misconceptions are not the responsibility of any one group or aspect of the program. They are fueled by some program design elements, political pressure over accountability, and misconceptions held by parents, teachers and students. Based upon our surveys, interviews, and focus groups, we believe that the dominant model of assessment at the school is what we term the “high-stakes testing” model, which stresses summative evaluation, striving for perfect performance, little feedback and contextualization, and substantial, long-lasting consequences.” Others, such as Krashen, show that “the results presented here strongly suggest that of the four aspects of AR, access to books, time devoted to reading, tests, and rewards, only the first two are supported by research. If the focus is on competition and rewards for number of points the reading aspect becomes secondary to the need to outpoint peers or win the reward. Can the same be said of other software used in the classroom. After attending numerous conferences and walking through the vendors displays I am too often left with the sense that technology integration is lost in the process. As has been the case in some presentations that I’ve done, teachers will say to me “I don’t have time to do that” when explaining the more constructivist approach toward technology. But give them a good testing software program that complements their textbook and they are all for it! So is it convenience or integration? Perhaps again we need to focus on professional development and the lack there of. If we continually expect teachers to integrate technology then we must give them the opportunity to see how it fits into their everyday classroom. Also, if the administrative focus is on what “looks good” rather than integration then we are fighting an uphill battle. If the opportunity isn’t there to learn then we are simply spending a lot of money on a whole lot for appearances.

Having recently visited several colleges got me wondering how far, if at all, had colleges and universities moved toward a more constructivist approach toward educating students? My son is preparing to graduate from high school in June 2008. We did a tour of several schools and sat in on presentations given by school admissions counselors about the academics at each school.  What was amazing, startling, disappointing, etc.  was some colleges still taking a traditional approach in educating students.  What was especially shocking occurred while attending an information session at a liberal arts school.  When asked what the percentage of classes take a more project/inquiry based approach rather than a traditional testing approach the counselor seemed to stumble a bit with the question. She responded that there maybe a course here and there that takes a more project based approach. However, most of the courses are traditionally based.

As we walked through the library of one of the schools I was glancing at what students were working on.  A number of students seemed to be preparing for exams.  The question in my mind became are we continuing to perpetuate students to become better test takers?  If this is the case, what happens to those students that are to become future teachers?  If their methodology of learning is by memorization and regurgitation then what will be their expectations of their future students?  Will there be opportunity for future teachers to move beyond this mind set if they don’t know any other way?  It is especially disconcerting when I see a liberal arts college take a traditional approach to education.  It seems to be a dichotomy to me seeing a school call themselves a liberal arts college and at the same time taking a teaching to the test approach in educating their students.

Therefore, if this is still the approach a majority of our colleges still take, then is it not surprising that this approach has trickled down to our K to 12 school environment?

What does it take for people to be active members in a learning environment?  Is there a magical answer to this question?  The reason I pose this question is due to my wondering how do you get people involved with technology integration.  For example, I’ve started to build a moodle (<a href=”http://www.techinedonline.com/moodle”>http://www.techinedonline.com/moodle</a>) with various topics being covered. I’ve noticed quite a few people coming to this site, but not a single comment, suggestions, request, etc.  So I’m left to ponder whether building such a site is a worthwhile adventure or is simply providing a repository of information enough.  I enjoy putting this site together and offering information to others.  However, it’s hard to know what direction to take with this site without knowing what peoples’ needs are or what they are looking for.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand people have other things happening in their lives and taking the time to respond is not a priority. However, this is the same dilemma I’m faced with in my work.  How do you get people to use the knowledge and resources at hand in order to better integrate technology into the classroom? Are expectations too high?  I ran into this situation a couple years ago when I introduced the concept of a discussion forum for teachers to use as a way of communicating with each other, as well as offering their own knowledge to share with others? Guess how many people participated? At first, a few people posted to the forums but those numbers quickly faded within the first couple of months.  I also setup a Tips and Tricks website for teachers. And what was the reaction? Most people stated they would just rather ask me then look at the site.  What strikes me as being somewhat baffling is that we tell our students to look for the answers rather then come to the teacher to give you the answer. Yet, we often do the same thing that we attempt to dissuade our students from doing.

Alan November, last week at the “TechForum Northeast 2007″ talked about how he had peoples’ blogs tied into his course website and still had people adding to it now even though the course ended this past spring.  I think I’ll try that within my moodle and see what happens. His thinking, which I agree with, is that people need to have some connection or feeling of ownership for it to be successful. I also liked his idea of using Skype to open up lines of communications. I’ll continue to offer skypecasts over the next few weeks (look for notices here) to see what kind of responses I get.  I’ll have more to say about last week’s conference later on.

Working with teachers today I had time to reflect afterwards on the day.  Often times after doing a training or in-service I spend time reflecting on how things went.  The thing that struck me the most was how much energy people can devote to resisting change or looking at things from a different perspective.  The in-service today was a follow-up on teachers having recently completing the 21st Century Details Questionnaire.  Several teachers could not move away from the focus of it not working for them.  The thought came to me…what if instead of saying “this doesn’t apply to what I’m doing” or “this if fine for older students” teachers thought how can I make this work for me!  How can I take the concepts and strategies that are applied to older students and tweak it to fit my grade level?  What a novel concept. At times it does feel like I’m battling those windmills!

At times the stars and planets align perfectly with each other.  As I was working on my doctoral EPP, I was trying to look at how using a Moodle would fit into what I was attempting to accomplish.  Mainly, my goal is looking at how possibly can a Moodle fit into a constructivst approach and at the same time evaluate teachers use of it.  Well, back in May I went through training to become a <a target=”_blank” href=”http://www.loticonnection.com” title=”LoTi Connection”>LoTi </a>certified mentor. After completing the training I began to look at the various LoTi levels and it dawned on me, they fit very well together. By assessing how teachers are using the Moodle, I’m able to determine their current LoTi level.   From here, professional development can be focused on a teacher’s needs not simply throwing  a teacher into a one shot in-service or training.

Let me know what you think. Until next time.

Alan