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….

John@ISETS

I got an iPod for my birthday from my wife and kids, ooops a mini iPod. I love it! Doesn’t everyone or do you just love them because of the cool ads, logo and one liners “Life is Random” Apple has flooded us with. My students have iPods. So many that now we actually have meetings with the issue of iPods on field trips. We have had meetings about appropriate use of them, when and where they should be used. In one of the classes I teach we have a lesson called iPodtiquette. This in an effort to highlight and have kids thinks about good ways of using this new medium and be aware of the perceptions iPods have when kids are talking, walking around school or interacting with adults.

On the first day getting my iPod mini, I spent hours setting up my library and song lists. I became consumed in selecting the songs, modes, feeling and lyrics which I wanted to be part of the lists. The process brought all kind of memories, and at the same time allowed me to downloard moods for an environment I thought the songs and music could create.

The next morning, upon moaning how tired I was, my wife asked me if I did not remember making mix tapes from LP’s albums. Of course who doesn’t… or to be honest I forgot in the depth of my memory… yes all those hours spent creating tapes to share with friends. Yes of course, hours and hours…the I just broke up with girlfriend tape, etc…. what about sorting albums ooops for another blog.

The next morning I am stuck in Tokyo morning commuter traffic at 7.30 with hundreds and thousands of people squished in one car. No worries I am iPod equippedI I have my headphones put on my headbanging song list and bingo: Atomic Punk by Van Halen blares…loud. Suddenly the music transforms the moment into a lovely mix of feelings, emotions, day dreams and rich thoughts. As songs pass through in my iPod my whole morning experience has a different color, feel and vibe. The crowd, the pushing, shoving all seem to blend in with the music and become a positive part of the experience.

Did I not have this before with my walkman, CD walkman…yes in snippets. But now I can create the mode, control the lists, mix, match, blend and the beauty of it….. for hours on end.

I don’t have to carry anything but this slick thin, slim rectangle, which with the soft touch of my index provides me with hours of fun.

To be honest it is just not the iPod but the whole concept of controlling your musical experience when you are mobile, the same goes with the iRiver or an MP3player. The fact that as you travel, commute, walk, run, and chill and then have a small device that allows you to create a mode. The process allows you to play with your feelings as the visual stimulation blends with the auditory, and this for hours on end, without much switching, changing or batteries running out.

Music to many, and I think especially any generation which lived with LP’s 45’s, CD or MP3, created many memories, emotions with music. Now you can again in many way (thinking of the tapes) but for longer; have a world caressed by your songs, as a way of escape, as a way to jiggle memories, feelings and emotions.

A thought, an impression as I continue with my iPod tonight again to create yet another song list, for a long plane ride to Europe.

John@ISETS

This post is a thought BUT also a supporting entry for Arash Sigarichi and Mojtaba Saminejad. It is unbelievable in my view how this blogging community is growing, developing a true identiy and of course what happens this: Two Iranians get imprisoned for blogging… then the week before I read a story about the CNN editor resigning.
Then I think of my international school ASIJ and how as a group educators we really have not allowed the whole blog issue come into our conversations about different ways for kids to express themselves. Explored it as a current medium of expression. The students blog of course but in isolation within their peer group. How as educators are we facilitating our rich knowledge of ideas and concepts to our students within the sphere of blogs. Where are the conversations about Arash Sigarichi and Mojtaba Saminejad ? Again a level of frustration arises in my mind. The disconnect that often, not always and depending on the context, is occuring from movements in the real world, contempory digital mediums and forms of experession. I am not saying replace all our forms of communication (word processing, speeches, oral presentations and multimedia presentations ppt actualy this is a whole other topic on its own…..but we have a responsability to share, harness, explore, discuss and facilitate this medium within the context of our school and with our students. Have you: teacher read your student blogs= why do they blog?

Imagine… kids start using their blogs as places for research, quote blogs as sources, get their daily fair of news from blogs….share their feelings, discover philosophies in blogs….create their point of reference from blogs……remember the world blogs…. at some point, at some level as international school educators we need to explore, discuss (if not only amongst ourselves at first as a starting point) how blogs and education can find a common ground for both ourselves and our students. We can always teach about our past, and at some point we need to be able to teach about the future…. hey there the future is actually NOW!

John @ISETS

SO, after a few months of doing the Going Native with the in class chat room, music and open ended environment ( see Going Native blog) and then reading Mark Prensky new blog on the Digital Natives . I feel it was the right move, and the students seem most comfortable with the dynamic. There is no doubt that at first the students kind of saw this as a candy store with no attendant. Why? Well as far as I know there are not many classroom situations were students are encouraged to engage in online chat and be able to listen to music while they work. The concept of multitasking I think is still percieved as not being able to focus on one task thus not being able to produce at the highest level. This multitasking is seen as a negative aspect of todays generation and percieved by many adults with bad light. As mentioned in my initial blog on this topic Going Native and doing a lot of reading by Mark Prensky it seemed that this was a worthwhile concept to actually try in class. The kids themselves in their class reflections for the course seemed to feel that this multitasking environment was the norm, and they felt they performed better and more effectively. Many parents who I talked to during parent conferences brought up this issue of their children being online doing multiple online tasks while doing homework. It was an issue for them, but some said they felt if their grades were not affected by this then let it be! Others saw this as a huge distraction to their concept of good homework behavior and had home restrictions and limits on kids accessing the internet.
I did mention in these conversations with the parents the environment we had created in the course, and how at first kids seemed a little out of control with the chat room but over a week they quickly self monitored themselves and at this stage use it then and now for mostly class related issues. I think as with anything with many adolescents, intially there is excitement and then the novelty fades. I had maybe a harder time as the facilitator allowing the chaos, and trying to understand that kids need a trial period, and trust actually in their self monitoring powers, a letting go, fear of loss of control …always a little hard for educators maybe 🙂

With the music (ipods, mp3 players etc…) kids have said they find that with their favorite tunes on, they felt it insipired their creativity and created a more dynamic environment for them. Interestinly enough a component of this was the issue of ipodtiquette. Appropriate behaviors in class with ipods. We talked about when I the teacher/facilitator was speaking ipods should be off and a way to show this was to take the headphones off. Another was sharing ipods, with each partner having one ear plug if you were working in a group. In the effort to avoid having a group working together and some members with ipods on and others not. We talked about key times for ipod use in class. For example when students are working independently on a project or process or in small groups but again honoring their partner by sharing the ipod or usign the computer CD drive and dual jack headphones. I find this whole process and topic again such a strong indication of how technology can change cultural expectations in the classroom.

Anyway I am continuing the Going Native philosophy with this the course, and feel it was the right choice. I have done little ot push this further apart in my class, and this is not something I feel I have an audience for amongst my collegues or supervisors in my present school setting at ASIJ…

more later

John@ISETS

“The Illiterate of the 21rst century will not be those who can not read, or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”

Alvin Toffler



Hardware vs. Mindware!!!



Mindware is the concept of Information Technology Communication learning moving away from the focus on hardware, desktop infrastructure to a fully mobile wireless interface…, bringing the tool and open flexibility of the internet/wireless technology into the learning space…. moving the focus away from the actual learning of the tools functions and focusing on strategies and processes for the learning, unlearning and relearning (as quoted by Alvin Toffler) of information communication technology in the context of the information age. Developing a philosophy of learning, unlearning and relearning with technologies not yet invented for jobs not yet created.

Many international schools have continued to go with a desktop interface and often require kids to physically go to a specific location to interact with ICT tools often disconnected to the actually learning space they spend most of their day…. much of the learning with ICT tends to be process based. The mindware switch is more of an opened ended style with a contructivist model.

The reality is we are moving to a broadband wireless world, and already one can see with the profusion of cell phones, PDA’s and a variety of small mobile computing tools that the walls between home, work, travel and entertainment are very quickly blending into one interface accessible 24 hours a day and anywhere. There will come a time when not having a connection to the internet in the different moments of your day will become a disadvantage in communicating, interacting and working successfully.

As educators we need to be able to simulate such an environment in our own physical learning space, and with this move our learning outcomes and objectives to a concept were we know kids will be to be able to learn then unlearn and relearn knowledge to interact a world of wireless connectivity with a multitasking set of skills experienced all in one day.

This will require a shift in the way schools create learning environments…. A focus on the Mindware of the Digital Age, which actually is over and as some are already calling it the Information Age!!



John at ISETS

Something I have noticed in many international schools with the issue of IT resources, is how various departments, divisions and schools with in school ( ie: Elementary Campus, Middle School Campus and High School Campus) all tend to petition for their own equipment/hardware/ software and then keep it secluded to their specific projects. Or due to a lack of time to talk, share and debrief what each person is doing, one is unaware of what others are doing.

Last week a group of teachers at my school http://www.asij.ac.jp have through the guise of a critical friends groupdecided to create a IT integration support group. This came about from the group sharing their frustration and to be honest dislike of the process of critical friends as facilitated at our school. There was a feeling of disconnect with the process and lack of ownership. As we discussed this issue further gradually, as we tried to identify what we as a group were looking for, the idea of a collective IT support group materialised.

Basically we all felt often projects we wanted to do were being blocked because either there were no resources available in that division of the school, or resistance to share them. Sometimes a resistence and allowing innovation be facilitated within the context of the curriculum and percieved expectations of what was okay or not.

The theme that developed from this group was a desire to do more with video wiothin the classroom contect with kids. It was agreed for all members of this group, via a list serve to start brainstorming ideas together. With the ideas if a member of the group had a resource, time, facility, knowledge or skill they then would be willing to share this.

So what is the big deal! For me it is that too often one gets caught up in a variety of processes to get permission to do things, or petition for hardware requests and you get lost in the bureaucratic and personality blackhole which often is endemic in International Schools.

This way people have an opportunity to try things out of the box, and now there is a group willing to share, and support them….with the only goal and motivation of making sure the group members project idea actually happens…. and who benifits from this, the KEY player = our students…….

Josh R. , a collegue and friend, and I debriefed about this process the other afternoon, and discussed the importance of educators participating and having time to facilitate such a process.

A community of practice.…. 🙂

John@ISETS

A light late summer rain dusting my shoulders, and Wouter and I chat over a few drinks…..there is something lovely about connecting to people, who honor and are willing to fall in your enthusiasm for a topic, and in tandem explore and share some ideas…. My conversation with Wouter spilled into a flurry of thoughts and ideas which only seemed comfortable residing in my blog……. Since this conversation I have been thinking and toying with an idea with the class Information Technology and Media Literacy Explorations I am teaching. This all seems ot have started in the last week with a series of online journal responses have hit a nerve….

Partly due to my own articles being published and while reading it them over, revisiting the issue that Mark Prensky covers so effectively: Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants.

One of my students responds to the following questions:

What aspect of the class have you found challenging (give examples?)

The aspect of the class that I found challenging was to work independently and quietly on one project. The projects require concentration and being independent.

Why has this been challenging?

Working independently and being focused on one thing at one time has been a challenge because usually at home when I work, I have the internet and my computer, I have music on, I am doing instant messenger, or talking on my cell phone. Having to work alone, being focused on one thing, and concentrating was a challenge at first.

What strategies (give specific examples) have you used to overcome this challenge (s?)

Some ways I overcame the challenge was to try and be focused on one thing. Trying to be focused might help me really be focused and be concentrated and independent. I found out that if I focus on being independent and concentrated with my friends, television, instant messenger, music, etc.. Won’t bother me. I think that I have overcome the challenge not just at school, but at home too.

My reaction and thought to this was immediately is my teaching style, facilitation of this course and the environment I have created out of sink with the way my students actually feel they can learn in? There is no doubt as the world of broadband, cell phones, instant messaging, internet, MP3 and downloads becomes part of everyday life for my students, a gap develops with my world.

My thought is if when they are at home working on “homework” and produce surrounded with an environment of instant messaging, cell phones, music playing, jumping around multiple mediums and tasks in fragmented bursts but seemingly being able to accomplish their needed tasks……what kid of transition occurs for them when they are suddenly surrounded by a very linear, step by step process, in a multimedia poor environment found in many teaching styles and classrooms of schools today?

This has motivated me to try within the context of this class, facilitating a new environment incorporating a richer interactive atmosphere. One were I would be allowing students to listen to music when working alone with headphones. The other would be to use instant messenger more often as a regular supplement to verbal communication. Kids could access each others help with instant messenger requests. Continue to facilitate non linear process to my teaching style, creating a methodology of sharing knowledge in a workshop style. Solely have one on one interaction or small group work, with a strong jig saw puzzle framework to sharing knowledge……and stop full class lecturing!

So here I go, Do I, should I , do the kids want it? I should says the reality of the world schools seem to missing out on

John@ISETS

I am so pissssed off, and the hardest thing the person who pissed me off is someone who has done workshops focusing on good research skills…. and then I witness a whole facilitation leaving kids in complete information overload……and most importantly of all in information the kids can’t digest or have an idea what this means, you hear their liitle heads saying I have no idea what my questions is about……actually have no idea why I am asking a question, oh actually have no idea what a question is? Local medicine BLOG 🙂!

A group of second graders came to my lab to work on class research projects. The students had been asked to generate questions which would interest them to guide their research. They were planning to use the school library books and internet resources to find the answers. Here are some of their questions.

How much gasoline do planes at Narita Airport (Tokyo Japan) use per day?

Why do people in London think they are special?

Who invented the onion?

A student walks into the library and asks the librarian for information for her research project. “What information are you looking for?” asks the librarian “I need information about plants.” The librarian responds, “What topic are you looking to focus on?” The student says “Plants.”

Today many schools have made research projects part of their curriculum. There is a push to start having kids work on research projects at an earlier age, in an effort to expose them to the skills of information literacy. There is a growing belief that we as educators need to better prepare our students to be able to work with information as critical thinkers. This belief comes from the fact that we are surrounded by a hailstorm of information in a multitude of mediums on every topic imaginable — be it on television, the internet, print, the local library, or an electronic signboard on a street corner. I fully support this notion, and agree that today information literacy is an important, even vital, component of any curriculum. Too often, however, we set off on these projects forgetting who are students are and what, realistically, they can do.

Can a primary school student honestly develop good essential questions for a research project? In my opinion asking children at these grade levels to generate questions often sets them up for failure. Is asking the question what we want to start with when working with this age group? Based on my experience working with elementary school students as a technology integration specialist, I have come to believe that setting up the students for a successful research experience is the key to future learning and understanding of the research process. I believe that in order for primary students to be successful in research, they should not be generating questions without parameters. Nor should they be going to the internet on their own to find answers.

So what should they do? If you want kids to develop research questions, instead of leaving them carte blanche to choose a topic and generate questions alone, provide the direction and clear guidance.

First of all, what grade-appropriate resources does your school have to offer on the topic? Does the library have material that your students can read? Is there information available on the internet that is accessible for your students’ age group?

One suggestion is to create a set of learning links or curriculum links, by gathering and bookmarking a set of previewed websites specific to the topic you want students to study. This can be posted on your class website or school site. Make sure the text and content is something your students can read. A good example is the site Enchanted Learning .

Once you’ve determined available resources, list a selection of suggested topics for students based on them. Allow the kids to pick a topic within the list you have pre-selected.

It is often possible to model a set of questions students can use for research. An example would be say for an insect project: have the kids pick an insect and you with the kids use a set of standard questions, which they all use for their respective insects. i.e.: What does my insect eat? What is there life cycle? What do they look like? What color are they? This linked to specific resources you know they will find the information. The real focus for younger students should not be generating questions but being able to locate and understand the information. The key is getting them into the process of doing this. Simple is better.

Identifying keywords that will help students locate information is essential. Primary students can learn what keywords are, how to recognize them, and how to use them to retrieve information from a text.

As students locate information, have them record key points in their own words. A good strategy to use is the research grid, which I have seen used very successfully by primary years teachers. The research grid guides the students in their research by giving keywords and organizing information into a grid. Once the grid is completed, students can use their notes to write full sentences to be added to a simple multimedia presentation, mini research paper, slide show or oral presentation.

Too often in our rush to work with the whole research process we forget that young children have only limited ability to access and synthesize the onslaught of information available on the internet or in our libraries. Students in higher grades can realistically learn to generate good research questions and locate and begin to evaluate information from a wider variety of sources. There is nothing wrong with introducing primary students to the research process in small doses. By experiencing the research process in clear, simple steps with guidance, the primary student is gaining a strong set of skills, with a feeling of success which they can build on as they come across this process over and over again.

Don’t have them ask the question please.

John @ ISETS