John Hendron

Director of Innovation and Strategy

Archives for January 2011

Trusting (or not) the Wikipedia

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As I began thinking about my Google presentation I plan to deliver on Wednesday at EdTech 2011, I also thought of the Wikipedia, that other website some teachers don’t like. (I think the case against Google is far less plausible than the one(s) against Wikipedia.) So, why don’t teachers like the Wikipedia? This blog post outlines at least 10 reasons why students shouldn’t rely upon, or cite, the Wikipedia.

While they do admit there’s a place for the Wikipedia in education, I’d like to be the advocate for what’s right with the Wikipedia.

  1. It’s free. The adage goes, “you get what you pay for,” which would imply the quality here isn’t good. In fact, I often find the basic information I am looking for when visiting search results that point to Wikipedia. That’s a lot of value, despite the cost.
  2. You can see what people were thinking. The discussion tabs along the top give insight to what people where thinking in terms of edits. You don’t get this in other media (things like encyclopedias).
  3. The Wikipedia really reflects the true nature of knowledge. There are few static facts in life. Perspectives are always changing, as does the concept of knowledge. The fact that articles are changing, morphing, and are being massaged by different biases and viewpoints is more authentic.
  4. It’s open. Cases about difficulty in changing content, or control by all white graduate students aside, the wiki format is an open one. And despite being open now with locks and other safeguards, the corpus of the Wikipedia is remarkable when you consider it was created by donated time and talent.
  5. It’s broad. What other resource is as broad and wide as the Wikipedia?
  6. It’s multimedia In addition to graphics, some article contain animations, and others musical examples.
  7. It challenges our understanding. I agree, the articles shouldn’t be taken at face value. All knowledge is messy. We should be questioning a lot more in life, too.
  8. Articles link to other sources. In some cases, the articles supporting what’s written are of a quality that deserves our attention.
  9. You can make it better. You don’t have to only be a Wikipedia consumer.
  10. It’s popular. What better way to attempt to keep content honest than to have a large audience? The more eyes, I say, the better.

Google Goodies – February, 2011

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These are notes for the presentation by John and Bea at EdTech 2011 in Ashland, Virginia. We both became Google Certified Teachers in December of 2009.

Slide

Do you think you know what Google is? Google makes its money from advertising. But their mission is to organize the world’s information, making it universally accessible and useful. In addition to its search engine, Google offers a variety of Web-enabled services such as free e-mail (Gmail), a news service, apps for the desktop (Google Earth, Google Sketchup), maps, Google Voice, and of course, YouTube.

Google’s now got a phone platform that’s popular (Android) and another project to simplify computing by taking away most of what we think of as a operating system (ChromeOS). They also make a nice browser for PCs and Macs.

We are going to look at some of our favorite Google Services, and in addition, Google Apps for Education. We’ll share our experiences using GoogleApps both for teachers and for students.

Keep in mind there are two basic types of Google Accounts – those tied to an organization, and those we might call “personal” accounts. A Google account is tied to an e-mail address, which might also be a G-mail address.

Goodies we are sharing:

This is the third year for Goochland using Google Apps with teachers and the second with student accounts. Our first year of student accounts included access to Gmail for students; this year we were unable to afford email archiving, so we no longer offer the student e-mail accounts.

GoogleApps can be configured via LDAP and with a single-sign-on feature. However, we are currently managing the accounts via the Google Apps Dashboard using a mass upload at the start of the year. We use a system to track student accounts by using their graduation year in their account ID. This way, we can search for students by using their graduation year in the IDs and remove students as they graduate.

We feel introducing GoogleApps to teachers first is ideal… they acclimate to the shared environment, the concept of wikis, etc., and then they clamor for these features with students. We have a great penetration of GoogleApps with teachers now, and it’s helped that our administrators have demanded its use.

Some example uses of Google Apps for teachers/staff:

In addition to these examples and tools, we’re big fans of Google Earth and Google Sketchup.

Publishing Keynotes to Google

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I often get asked what the best way is to share a presentation (PowerPoint, Keynote, flipchart). Since we have Google Apps for Education here in Goochland, you can upload your presentation into Google and either share it (publish), embed it on your blog, or even share it so others can add to it themselves.

As it turned out, this is the 150th episode of my podcast, TechTimesLive. Our first podcast was recorded on October 3, 2005 I think, and the early episodes were audio-only. But as it became easier to create informative screencasts, a number of the latest episodes are in a video format. 150 is just a number, but it feels like a milestone number to me. The 5 years, and 150 episodes total more than 4 GB of content!

And today, I have a meeting with GMS Principal Johnette Burdette to show her how to podcast. It continues to be an innovative way to deliver multimedia to both computers and the growing segment of handheld devices we use.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Wikis in the Classroom

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Yesterday afternoon, we had a class on Wiki Adventures, and in case you missed it, here’s the handout for the class, on our wiki.

This past week I also had the opportunity to attend our Region 1 Learning Series Event for Twenty-First Century Skills. The speaker was Cathleen Richardson, an Apple Distinguished Educator who hails from Georgia. She was a fast talker and mover, sending her energy into the room. This energy hit us in the form of many ideas and examples of technology use available in education today. She impressed folks with her demonstration of QR Codes and augmented reality apps on the iPhone. And she did slow down long enough to tell us the virtues of wikis. You can find many of her resources she shared online on her own… (you guessed it!) wiki!

And then this morning, I came across this resource, some sage advice on 10 best practices for using wikis in the classroom from Barbara Schroeder.

And here’s the important thing that I shared with our workshop participants last afternoon.

  1. Our concept of a document is grounded in a printed page. These are typically formal.
  2. Word processors make documents, but by in large, these tools are designed to make printed pages.
  3. Writing and printing “documents” are not mutually exclusive.
  4. The original web browser from Tim Berners-Lee was called Web and was designed to be read and write. As it turned out, by the time we all got to it, it was pretty much read only.
  5. The terms “Read/Write Web” and “Web 2.0” both collectively refer to the malleability of web pages today. The best examples? Blogs, wikis, and collaborative applications (think Google Apps).
  6. Wikis were designed from the beginning (by Ward Cunningham, in case you’re wondering) to be online. There was never any intent to print them. They like living in flux, with the capability of changing whenever we need them to.

Let me know if I can help you learn with your students in the wikiverse.

iPad Guide for Administrators

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From the twitterverse comes this PDF guide for school principals on the iPad. In evaluating apps on the Apple iOS platform, I, myself, have been keeping two different eyes out on apps.

  1. Apps for school administrators
  2. Apps for students

The guide referenced above talks about Evernote, iAnnotate, iBooks, and Omnifocus. These are well-regarded apps, but different from the ones I use. There are some trends I’ve found when choosing which applications to share with school leaders.

  1. Apps that sync. I recommend Simplenote and Notational Velocity as a killer combination. Simplenote is an app for the iPad/iPhone that can sync your plain-text notes to their server. NV is the app on the Mac that ties into this same database. Write a note one place, have it instantly availalbe everywhere else. Some call this cloud computing.
  2. Focus. OmniFocus is available on both the Mac and the iPad, but I’ve gone with one called Things. I have difficulty in consistently using it, but it does work well as an organizational manager. Both Focus and Things follow the “Getting Things Done” philosophy by David Allen.
  3. Calendars and Mail that Sync. Having your e-mail available on every device, plus your calendar items, is awesome. We use iCal on the Macs, tied to the iOS calendar, using Google’s CalDAV syncing. This is another example of cloud computing.
  4. Data Collection. iPads and iPhones are great data collectors, whether it’s a voice memo, a photo, or data you type into the device. We’re currently using FileMakerGo as a solution to do classroom observations using FileMaker Server.
  5. Information Management. RSS has proven to be one important technology in trying to manage all the information we might find of interest, from education blogs, to online articles, and even school news. I like Reeder, an RSS aggregator for the iPad, but I also like Flipbook, for its ability to show content across platforms in a visually interesting way. Instapaper is an app I’ve yet to share with administrators, which allows you to “read content later,” even without an internet connection.
  6. Documents and Editing. I’ve yet to pick my favorite PDF/Cloud/Office app. I have been using GoodReader a lot as its matured. Some folks like some others for opening and editing Office documents, in addition to the cloud-formats like Dropbox or Google Docs.

Hopefully by March, I can publish which apps we find have been most beneficial. At the same time, we’re looking at educational apps for both elementary and secondary applications.

TSIP

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This post is intended to answer the question “What are the TSIPs and what do I need to do?”

1. The TSIP is a state requirement, not a Goochland requirement. In 1998, the Virginia DOE established the Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel for teachers. This is a one-time exercise that allows a university or school division to certify that a teacher applying for, or renewing a Virginia teaching license, is technically competent with computer technology.

2. How do I demonstrate competency? Each school division likely does this a different way. Some put teachers through a mandatory training session, others give a test. In Goochland, you will sit through a 10-15 minute interview with me, and demonstrate on your school laptop some basic skills.

3. What basic skills are assessed? The TSIPs define 8 general competencies. We have interpreted them for the technology we have available in our schools today. This form defines some of the things I cover during the interview.

4. Once the form is signed by you, what do I do with it? The completed TSIP form is submitted to our HR department and will be included in your licensure/re-licensure documentation. Currently, you only need to do this once. Once the TSIP requirement has been met, you do not need to be assessed again.

5. If I take my technology course, do I have to go through TSIP? Yes. Our requirement of at least one technology integration course each school year has nothing to do with the TSIP process or requirement.

6. What happens if I don’t pass? If we determine your basic technology skills have not been met, we will make an alternate appointment to do the assessment again. I cannot tell you the answers, but you may consult with someone in your school if you have questions.

7. How do I take the TSIP assessment? Please e-mail me for an appointment to meet after school at the central office to schedule your interview.

7 Survival Skills

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How important is leading a good discussion, or asking good questions?

According to Tony Wagner, these are key skills business leaders are looking for when hiring employees. He defines seven survival skills on which schools should be placing focus.

  1. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
  2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
  3. Agility and Adaptability
  4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
  5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
  6. Accessing & Analyzing Information
  7. Curiosity and Imagination

It’s a really good read. Tony Wagner has worked for more than thirty-five years in the field of school improvement, and he is a frequent keynote speaker and widely published author on education and society.

My thanks go to Mrs. Jill Baedke for sharing this article with me!