http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8
NO the Sex Pistols are not part of the digital generation. The picture and the above youtube link to Vision of K-12 Students, are each a statement about an age, a time, a generation and an expression. I get to watch and observe quite a few classes, and see students in the context of their lesson, unit and/or course.
And still today, many of these kids, sit, listen, take notes, and passively (as best they can) take it in. But that is not what they want……why sit there at a desk, when around you is this whole world of interaction, social networking, collaboration, creation, opportunities to step in analyze, responded, and most importantly create.
I believe that the disconnect for some kids with the way information and learning is set up in the context of the classroom, motivates them to sign off.
Why? that would be a long story. I think for me, who was one of those kids not being able to sit through long endless monologues, and then in isolation have to deliver my memory of facts, the ability for passive intake is over for most of our students. They are surrounded with a world which begs for creativity, critical thinking, multitasking, and is actually saying send me people that can unlearn learn and relearn. These critical attributes are what I believe will give our kids the edge in a world where creativity and innovation have become a global commodity.
To be honest I think most teachers who still feel obliged to sit their students through endless monologues, with reams of vocabulary lists, quotes, definitions etc…are maybe involuntarily…. afraid, not sure or hesitant to open their teaching style to a collaborative interchange, where everyone creates some concrete learning hands on!
If you are surrounded by a world that begs to multi task, which becomes the norm for your own social interaction, is the measure by how you exist with your peers…..how one stays connected, informed and in tune… would you not expect this to be harnessed and integrated in the learning process for every child.
Somehow it isn’t in many schools. True there are so many variables, and constraints on facilitating a learning which enrages, engages and effects kids in a way which allows them to experience: analyze it, manipulate it and then use it in a kaleidescope of mediums, each time tweaking, and altering this knowledge to fit new variables.
I think sometimes where the real cutting edge learning is going on, is out of the classroom, at night in the afternoons, with Web 2.0 tools that our kids have embraced in a way that it is not an add on, but part of their fabric as humans eager to learn and grow.
John @ISTES
thought of safety, the concept of a zone where one has one’s own unique space, easy to kind of kick back, day dream, muse and ponder.
http://www.socialsafety.org/teens_cyberbullying.html http://www.socialsafety.org/teens_quick_tips.html
http://www.socialsafety.org/teens_tmi.html
guess what the journal tucked in your cabinet, under your bed, the whispers you share that do not leave the room, suddenly have gone for a paradigm shift,
………….. online for you, me , them, us, they and over there to read, react, hear, listen, talk, and somehow before you now it they, he, she, them, us are there in that zone, unique space and corner of the world where secrets where for only the chosen few.
bla bla bla, I will never be a poet, or a writer. But today I was caught in a series of interviews, meetings, heavy, with heart and kept the day on its toes…. then I walk the corridors bump a couple shoulders and a hello realizing the kids around me and privacy somehow has transcended to a new level or has the craze of Web 2.0, internet and technology fooled them into a false sense of safety…. how much is naivety, how much is innocence, and how much maybe is just a new understanding, reality and change.
I like the above three links, thanks to Karenthelibrarian who shared them… nothing amazing, but hit a chord with me and got me thinking.
John @ISETS
Saving, keeping, and storing your digital stuff (files, music, photos etc…) with so much generated on a day to day basis on our respective computers, often one gives off this false sense of stability. I would guess to say most people save their files, photos, music and videos on their computer and to them that is it, once saved there all is well. It must be something inherited from the non digital era when you had a file and you put it into a cupboard and their was a sense of permanency unless the place burned down. The unfortunate reality in my view is that pretty everything we generate on our computers unless printed is digital= a bunch of one and zeros…. ironically the importance of these files etc.. have only increased with our day to day lives.
So switch to an international school environment, where you then need to set up an infrastructure and systems to support users with a rich variety of needs for backing up and saving. This takes server space, time, set up and training. An important service and then again providing a layer of security for each user.
This is where the heresy might begin for some. When I came into my job as Director of IT one of the big issues was the whole backing up of faculty and student files. We had a somewhat unstable system, lots of problems with connections, and bad files, to large folders trying to be put up on the server etc….. their was a growing frustration by all parties involved. Instead of investing more money and/or time I decided with the team that we would move the responsibility of backing up to the user. To support them we provided them with 250MB of virtual hard drive space on our Moodle environment, and then through training and regular notices as shared above had them become responsible for backing up their own files and folders. Flash sticks and CD’s were made available and also we encourage people to buy their own. Our IT Specialist would also spend time training and supporting faculty through the process.
I think this move and philosophy of moving more responsibility onto the user is something I feel is important to facilitate in the context of a international school. I have replicated this same philosophy with the students and they seem quite comfortable.
The role I feel IT departments in international schools should be to provide the learning portal (internet, pedagogy, support, mentoring and facilitation) to the users, and at the same time through a system where each user is responsible for their own files, folder, photos and music back ups. The way technology is today, and the inexpensive access to a variety of different backing up systems both online and offline, schools need not get bogged down with this.
The process in itself provides a talking point and modeling for each user in my opinion……..
John @ISETS
We talk, we pontificate, we try to understand there are the great youtube moments about the shift and then the student voices……………
BUT this picture that I keep close to me as a reminder that yes the world is moving at ridiculous speeds, Google this, Facebook that……….but what about over half the world………. I am not sure in all our excitement and amazement and daily wonderment how it is all changing so fast, are we thinking of the implications of the REAL DIGITAL divide…..
maybe we should all have this picture not only on our office desk but in our minds… a first step what next then?
John @ISTES
….. it will be two years this June since (again) I have been working, managing, facilitating and developing an Information Technology Program as an IT Director here in Prague….in many ways in tandem with this journey has been the re-acquaintance with the Apple platform after a 5 year hiatus, last time I was in a similar position and working with the Apple platform was in China. So why a blog entry for this…..I am an avid reader of the Economist, and ironically last Friday after spending an afternoon with Apple CZ General Manager over lunch, discussing various ways to move forward with their support of our program, starting a 1 to 1 Laptop project at my school, I got back to school and in my mailbox was the issue….after reading the leader and supporting articles, it got me to reflect on my own personal experience with Apple, the platform, the machines, the concept and innovation associated with the company… and hard to describe the kind of wooaa factor that seems always to come into play in the press, and with users I support and work with.
In a school, any school which engages in having a information technology program, the machines, hardware, and peripherals you decide to work with can quickly come to play a critical role in you moving forward in support the systems, process, pedagogy and innovation for the school. International Schools often have the odd challenge of being located in areas of the world where your hardware choices are dictated by market forces, the basic fact that one brand, or type of machinery is only available to you. So you make do with what you have and move from there…. I feel today with the globalization of markets, this is less the case and in tandem some excellent local products being available the choices are greater.
So back to Apples….I left China and managing an IT program with Apple products at the end of the pre-OSX era 99-2000, and did not find working with Apples and maintaining the machines, and often the frustration of trying to collaborate with Microsoft servers a pleasant experience. Lots of bugs, issues and limitations. I personally felt the cult of Apple was not enough to keep the platform so much in the limelight….there also was the terrible after sales service and often frustrating pricing which we had to deal with. I often got the feeling Apple really could care less about the school market outside of the US, and even though we had a few people from Apple swing buy with promises little ever materialized. The feeling I developed was if you work with Apples you kind of are on your own.
Moving to Tokyo and then walking into the world of Dell and IBM, seemed almost refreshing, okay the machines are not sexy, there is not the cache of Apple look, but the service side ,and great prices supported by three year warranties, and in Japan a 24 turnaround time, made managing over 1000 machines that much easier for all of us involved. There is no doubt in my time there, the almost mandatory process of having to re-install drivers on a regular basis, being completely shut down for three days due to virus attack, and at times the temperamental nature of the Windows OS and the applications living on it, provided hectic days.
Prague, and back to the Apple platform, and to be honest at first with my own memories of the difficulties of the days before OSX…..OSX and the new life Apple seemed to have put ( thanks Steve J) into everything it touched. No doubt the ipod was and is the catalyst to this transformation but also in parallel the new laptops and desktop seemed to have the consumer in mind, with the thought, let us make it easy, smooth, and simple simple…..fun, and give us all a feel we can make a cool movie or sound track with a drag and drop philosophy…..which is a perfect fit for any school. I could go on, and not sure I need to…. all I know we have over 459 machines, one full time technician ( hats off and credit goes all to JS) and one network manager, and the over 200 laptops (ibooks and Macbooks) and daily the stability, reliability, and ease to manage issues is great…remote desktop is a huge help, also lots of front loading with our users both teachers and student: expectations for use, a somewhat locked down desktop and laptop…sorry users… and a big belief that as an institution we provide the learning portal…( ie internet, hardware…) storage back up etc… is the users responsibility.
for me always…..if you expect people to learn, move to the other side of the paradigm shift that of information technology integration…the tools need to work seamlessly, easily and be intuitive.
Apple seems to do the trick…but then again is it not the case that many of the Web 2.0 interfaces and many of the cellphones etc… it is now about the consumer and in many ways making sure the lowest common denominator can use these tools, feel empowered and free to be part of the digital landscape.
John @ISTES
The dissemination of IT PD and IT integration and best practice ideas should be based on “Demand” or “Need” rather than merely “Supply” of what’s available.
Demand or Need Driven IT Integration:
How can IT serve your most pressing needs in your classroom?
What do you want to accomplish in your classroom? …in this lesson or unit?
…only later. Let’s see how IT can help you reach those goals.
Supply Driven IT Integration:
Ideas and information is pushed out to people and mostly received as “noise.”
Having heard Robert over a skype conversation and then three of my colleagues hear him sharing his views again at the ECISIT conference in Düsseldorf has had us all thinking and realizing the importance of maybe re-evaluating our approach to information technology integration.
There is no doubt as an IT Specialists that for us we want people to move in certain directions embracing the power of IT pedagogy and tools, us working with these daily quickly understand and value how these can enhance the student’s learning experience. To be honest so do most people if you sit them down and give them time to reflect and talk BUT……
the reality is that teachers in an international school setting ( I am not as comfortable making statements about public schools as I do not work in one) are pulled in a million directions, with many different demands placed on them throughout the day, while in tandem they work in educating their students. It is somewhat a competition to get their focus and attention, as they get bombarded with all these tasks, each more pressing than the other, many often disconnected from the specific task to teaching children….. the side effect, is that after a while it all comes in as noise. There is a whole conversation and blog around this, which I will not go into.
Robert’s quote strength is that if we are competing with noise, why bother. Thus the powerful strategy of focusing our attention and support as IT Specialist on areas teachers need help, and this not decided by us, but generate by the teacher themselves. A process where IT Specialists/Tech Departments, engage in a conversation, dialogs with the focus of being the listener, and taking stock of the issues, needs and problems, and from there then in tandem with the teachers buy-in generating specific solutions and goals to support them , with their specific needs. To be blunt we are competing with all other agenda found in a school, and often IT comes as an add on, or something being pushed down the teachers street… I agree with Robert let us stop pushing, let us listen, hear them out, understand, empathize, and then in collaboration with the clear understanding of what they need, support them.
Thanks Robert….maybe many of us feel we have been doing this, or others feel it is the IT Department and Specialist who should be calling the shots… I disagree, why be noise when you can potentially be part of a constructive collaborative model with the teachers needs as the driving force of your support and facilitation.
John @isets.org
I have become a huge moodle.org (Open Source Content Management System) fan and convert. In the current school I am involved with it has just grown at an unbelievable pace but more interesting is the ingenuity and creativity the teachers facilitating the course have engaged in using the moodle.org tools and options with their students. We even called ours Stroodle (we are in the Czech Republic- a friend in Paris called his Poodle…now try having a say in the name of your Microsoft application 
) ) The versatility and seamless transition many experienced integrating this moodle.org CMS (Content management system) is just fantastic. So big deal!…. and fair enough but for us behind the scenes, and me the facilitator of supporting a school with IT, Moodle provides a robust and rich tool at NO COST 
, or a little, we actually spent $412 to have some one set it up on a server the first time, and then coach my team and I how to manage it….. interestingly enough in tandem with our positive experience in my region of the world Central and Eastern Europe there has been a remarkable growth and buy in by international schools of moodle.org. All of us are in regions or schools with somewhat smallish IT budgets. Moodle provided us with an accessible, easy, user friendly interface to move and encourage a virtual alternative to the traditional form of working with students and class courses….so what is the problem with free. None in my book, and the other day I was surfing and bumped into this new interesting desktop interface which to this date is free too: http://desktoptwo.com (Open source desktop interface) with this which might be more known is the new online applications by Google: http://docs.google.com (not open source but free at this stage) then there is the whole OpenOffice suite, again more evidence in my view of the power and rich options of free open source applications and programs available to us all. One could go on …see the following link and section on Open Source: Beyond Digital Newsletter …so what is the fuss?
Open source has gained over the years an immense growth in the market share of users globally think of Linux and Firefox and where they are today…. but somehow International Schools have been hesitant or ignored this growth and continue often to get caught in having to buy expensive application suites and licenses, which often limit and tie down their budgets. Why? I think partly due to a lack of understanding of what open source is, partly out of hesitation of how to switch their respective school cultures to adapt to these new applications……….. don’t forget we are at a stage where faculty and students have been spoon fed on Microsoft Office and Adobe programs for over a decade if not more… is it to late to switch?
If anything with the growth of the open source movement and the greater integration of the applications with non open source applications this might be an easier time to do this. Also as a philosophy if International Schools did not have to spend so much on software licenses, these monies would be available for other IT purchases. Easier said than done no doubt. moodle.org I feel provides an excellent role model of where open source can go, and also provide an excellent first introduction to schools to dabble with open source options.
I have a friend Christian B working at an International School in Latvia who has built his whole IT infrastructure on a very very limited budget all on open source…. everything from OS, to applications, anti-virus and utilities. He moved a small international school with a strapped archaic limiting set up to something that empowered both the students and faculty to use tools to excite them about the use of IT, and at the same time engaged them with the understanding of the power and user friendliness of Open Source…it is possible, there is no doubt with this option it is a new learning curve, but their are excellent resources out there Open Source Education Foundation Website
http://www.osef.org/index.html for example is good place to start.
At the end of the day the bottom line is more than about applications and operating systems, it is about empowering students, educators and schools to move forward with tools and applications accessible and easy to use, and not limiting options and possibilities because of corporate quarterly profits… education should be free and in many places it is……to often students and teachers are shut out of IT opportunities due to licensing fees and costs…. a component of the digital divide… open source movement provides a concrete global human face to a rich set of possibilities in engaging with IT tools….
and International Schools are a fantastic place to start exploring and exposing our communities to this critical component of ensuring everyone has access to these tools which have become a must in any learning experience…..
so maybe there is no problem things being free!
John@ISETS
There is no doubt with the massive penetration of IT hardware into the average household that nowadays it is not unusual for families to have a computer, digital music player, cell phone, and/or some other digital portable device. Manufactures are making these devices cheaper, more seamless in integrating them to your daily life, and often they are seen as a tool, which you use for a while and when they do not work anymore… you buy a newer version and throw away the older one.
Schools traditionally have taken it on to provide these tools (computers, printers, digital cameras and other digital devices) for student use. The logic has been in a public school system often the student population comes from the full spectrum of the economic scale of society, and are not able to have access or use to these tools outside of the context of schools.
In International Schools the economic spectrum is drastically different. International School student populations tend to come from middle to upper middle class families with a healthy disposable income. Their access to digital tools at times can be greater in the context of their home than in some the international schools they attend. This is changing no doubt.
So what is the Learning Portal concept? Simple why are international schools spending money on hardware and digital tools, which most kids already have at home? My point is that International Schools should adopt the philosophy of providing the Learning Portal tools but not the hardware. This means kids bring a laptop from home, and the school provides the hi-speed internet connection in a open wireless environment, and invest, spend the budget on providing a pedagogy which engages the student fully with the rich diversity of Information Technology tools and process which are critical in today’s global economy. Thus investment in IT PD for teachers, schedule adjusted to allow time for an integrated curriculum to blend in IT tools, a greater focus on the ethical aspects of IT tool use in the home, work place and outside world. A clear articulated vision of making the full integration and use of IT within the schools day a non-negotiable. This Learning Portal access tied remotely to the student, via a web interface (web page –intranet, extranet, teacher generated podcast streamed through RSS feeds to student digital audio players and/or course management system)
There still would be a significant investment in structural hardware to support this learning portal philosophy but on the student side let us shift the monies and time not on maintaining and purchasing machines, but on the learning, integration and actually essential understandings which will make them key players in our digital world.
Fair enough there are a million variables which need refining…to make this full proof… that is okay…. MY POINT: let us shift our thinking as international schools away from a hardware centric philosophy and also trying to juggle the learning portal philosophy to a single focus for our kids; Learning Portals in the Digital world for schools.
John@ISETS
1996…Beijing China, Apple Computers, trying something different, with the thought that this internet thing might take off in education ! I remember handing out laptops in a silver case to a bunch of 8th graders, with no orientation, just trust and the highs of trying something critically different..these kids took the laptops and melted into the Beijing traffic…. the fall out everything you could imagine, laptops forgotten on buses, at home, etc… well since then and a few more laptop programs under my belt…a little different orientation.
Interesting the reaction from parents and kids when you explain the students are going to spend two weeks walking with dicitonaries prior to getting a laptop…their assumption is why would you need to do this, many of them already have laptops at home….or feel it easy…some truth if you are a single user…BUT once you through a few hundred kids with laptops, walking school hallways, stairs and classrooms… a new dynamic is in play…. the process of getting them to simulate with dictionaires engages them to be mindful of the variables which come with using a laptop in areas congested with people traffic, managing a desk, books, bag, water bootles and this expensive piece of equipment. From my own experience and research it seems once a laptop program begins, if there is no real orientation their is a tendancy for a higher percentage of breakages than with an orientation program…..the bigger or more important issue is the process engages the kids in discussing, developing and creating conversations on responsiblity, care, management of the laptops and collaboration…all components that transfer to many areas of their school day…. so this little blurb was my answer to the community sceptics….
Dictionaries for Laptops
Wondering why your child might be sharing stories of walking with a dictionary to and from class instead of a 12” iBook laptop?
In the last couple weeks all Grade 4-5 and Middle School students have been participating in a two-week orientation program in preparation for the use of laptops at school.
The orientation program consisted of an initial full assembly where the IT Department and the homeroom and/or subject teachers discussed and presented the responsibilities that come with the use of a laptop; this was then followed by a series of skits performed by faculty, highlighting the “dos” and “don’ts” of using a laptop. Each class then debriefed about the skits with their IT Specialist in the ES and their Advisors in the Middle School. In the Elementary School students then designed their own skits to highlight the issues and responsibilities of using a laptop during their computer classes.
This was followed by a two-week period were students practiced walking with dictionaries to and from class and managing them on their desks and classrooms. The dictionary simulation allowed the students to get used to a new delicate object to manage in class. That in turn allowed them to develop strategies honoring the responsibilities discussed in the assembly. Each student was issued a temporary laptop drivers license that kept track of any infractions. This process allowed both students and teachers to continue to discuss and work on the appropriate behaviors expected in class.
After the two-week orientation a final induction ceremony took place for both the Elementary and Middle School. Each student pledged to abide by the group agreements for proper laptop use at school. Then the laptops were integrated into each class.
The goal of the laptop orientation program was to engage students in developing an understanding of the privilege and responsibilities associated with the use of a laptop in class. Through this process students got to problem-solve and support their peers allowing them to develop a high level of self-sufficiency. The dictionaries provide both teacher and student a safe environment to develop these new learning’s.
The students were outstanding in demonstrating a real commitment in developing appropriate behaviors and understanding sthe responsibilities associated with this. A special thank you goes out to the entire faculty involved with the orientation program for their time, patience and leadership with the students.
Good-bye to our dictionaries and welcome the 12” ibooks ☺
John@ISETS
So as I transition from one job to another, and actually have time with the summer months to realize I have been integrating Information Technology in an international school setting for 10 years or should I say trying to…. I step aside and take pause of the whole process. It is funny how much lip service, studies, research, and talk has surrounded this area over the years. The general final audit if you would want to call it is a very mixed bag, depending who you are or what you are pushing.
The bottom line is that integration was going to happen one way or another through osmosis. The world around us is digital, we the consumer have been seduced daily with new methodologies. Do you remember the first time an ATM showed up? Remember the first phone card? Remember the first computer you worked on? Generally we don’t, it somehow shows up in many ways and we make do.
So why have schools and educators spent so much time focusing and talking about Integrating Information Technology? Do the kids really do better, do schools really end up better off with its use and integration… yes and no.
I think sometimes as Information Technology Specialists we have been our worst enemies. We have tended to try to push the importance of the issue, and provided a forum where it has developed into a critical need for students to succeed in the digital age. Fair enough we have a responsibility to keep up and make sure our kids are equipped with the right skills and tools to succeed in their world. But too often it has been presented in ways that has teachers pull back. It too often becomes a add on, and not an enhancement. Let us be honest, kids today once they get a cell phone, a computer, game boy, Xbox will work it out, test it, push the limits, and create short cuts and an alternative methodology that fits their parameters….it is not about integrating technology it about being able to think with out a box, not outside the box.
So are we heading to the end of information technology integration and the demise of the information technology specialist… NO.!! It is maybe time we re-examine the approach, goals and outcomes in a different context. Maybe our job is to be more invisible, more subliminal, focus not on what we think is right, or what we think is important. It is more of a case of being there as a gentle coach, a sounding board, a seducer of the potential and possibilities of the digital world.
You and I know we are all busy as International School teachers, and Information Technology will always and is always in competition with 100’s of other important agendas, focuses, visions, goals and ideas. Maybe if we pulled ourselves away from that list, and through back doors made our agenda visible? Maybe it is not about what information technology can or should do for teachers, but more how teachers, when they see fit feel it is time to use it? Maybe it is about the little group of kids not in the box, working on the outside? Maybe it is about the reality of the world being digital and the tools and methodologies of our day to day becoming our vehicle? Let the students drive the need? Let the world around us seep in, and then use it to facilitate of the potential and possibilities of the digital world.
A thought… as another hot muggy day sets it soul to rest and I grab a cold drink and realize the summer break should be something that happens everyday in a teachers life… even if for just an hour or evening….
