Bill MacKenty

Technology strengthens, deepens, and broadens our learning...

This is my resume in Polish and here’s my resume in English.  My wife tells me the Polish translation is more literal than contextual.

CDW has recently released a stunningly well-colored report entitled CDW-G 2009 21st-Century Campus Report.

The report is an excellent resource for students, colleges, and IT folks to look forward and frame their ideas about where should technology should go.  With the one small exception that the report completely sucks.

Let’s pick this apart, shall we?

1. Thank you CDW (a computer company that sells computer stuff to schools) for telling us schools want and need technology. Never saw that coming…

2. You have erred in your idea of value.  Let’s look at this quote, found on page 3. “Students increasingly associate educational value with campus technology”.  This is perceived value and not actual value. We could throw smartboards in every room, but do they actually make a difference in student learning?. I’m sure students value not doing homework, having easy professors, and coming to class at 11:00am as well.  By the way, distance learning isn’t a panecea in education - you really need to think about how you use it.

3. Again on page 3, “Students rate faculty lack of tech knowledge as the biggest obstacle to classroom technology integration and see it as a growing problem”.  I agree, many faculty don’t use technology because they don’t know how - and support is hard to come by.  But I personally know many faculty who don’t use technology because it doesn’t fit with their idea of teaching and learning. Our math teachers like to use our whole-wall chalkboards to explain formulas.  Some folks in another department think that students should write down their homework instead of finding it on a lms.

4. Again, on page 3, “Just 32% of students and 22% of faculty strongly agree that their college/university is preparing students to successfully use technology when they enter the workforce”.  The “prepare students to enter the workforce” argument is the strongest point of this study. However, using the technology tools are secondary to critical thinking, evaluating and analyzing information (hi Bloom).

5. Page 8 “When it comes to the latest technology in higher education, faculty should look to students’ lead”.  Oh my God. No. No. no. no. no. no. twitter is not educational.

6. Page 9 is especially offensive. Why didn’t you ask “is technology making your teaching better?” or perhaps “does using technology increase student learning outcomes?”.  Great. 64% report teaching in a smart classroom. But does that make learning / teaching better?

7. Page 10: “When asked if their college/university supported distance learning, 72% of IT staff said “yes” compared to just 55% of students”. What the hell does IT staff know about effective teaching and learning? 

I’ll stop.

The real question, CDW, isn’t the presence of technology, but the effective use of technology.

I have an assignment for a class I’m taking.

Here’s the standards I need to demonstrate:

Competency 4: Use effective online search strategies

For professional work, as well as classroom assignments, chooses the most appropriate research tools and databases. Applies effective search techniques to produce useful and safe online resources in the classroom.

And this is my standard for success:

Meets standard:

Deploys generic search engines as well as specialized databases to locate learning resources appropriate to the interest and level of students.

So here’s my answer.

My search is to understand how best to teach 9th grade students about learning to program in PHP. I know PHP, and it is a pretty common language. Here is what I did:

I started with this search “learning php for students”.  It was horrible, nothing came back relevant.

FREE Online Microfinance Training - United Nations Capital ...
Learn English - Help for English Students and Learners ...
Teach to Students’ Learning Styles…

Then I changed the search term to “learning PHP”  Several relevant sites came back and some good resources. 

PHP Tutorial
PHP 101: PHP For the Absolute Beginner
Learning PHP 5 - O’Reilly Media
Learning PHP & MySQL, Second Edition - O’Reilly Media
Learning PHP - Part 1: A Gentle Introduction

But I don’t still don’t know the best way to teach these kids PHP. So I continued my search.

I headed over to ERIC, and searched for “teaching programming” this yielded some great results including

EJ826628 - Analyzing Student Performance and Attitudes toward Textual versus Iconic Programming Languages

This article provided some very interesting information - but more importantly, I discovered a category in ERIC, computer science education.  A veritable treasure trove, I could easily spend hours just reading these abstracts!

I’ve been using google chrome for mac for a few days, and I am impressed. To be honest, the only thing keeping me from completely switching is the access to web developer toolbar  in Firefox.  It is hands-down the best firefox extension I have ever worked with.

The developer tools in google chrome are sweet - I like to track loading time on webpages to see what is causing delay.  But the firefox extension really takes the cake. 

edit **sigh** Looks like chrome can’t open PDF’s in the browser. Heh. Welcome back, Firefox.

Picked this up from Chris Dawson’s excellent blog. 

From wikipedia:

The Schools Interoperability Framework, Systems Interoperability Framework(UK), or SIF, is a data sharing open specification for academic institutions from kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). Until recently, it has been used primarily in the United States alone; however, it is increasingly being implemented in Australia, the UK, India and elsewhere.

The specification is composed of two parts: an XML specification for modeling educational data, and a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) specification for sharing that data between institutions.

SIF is not a product, but an industry initiative that enables diverse applications to interact and share data. As of March 2007, SIF is estimated to have been used in more than 48 states and 6 countries, supporting five million students.[1]

The specification is actively maintained by its specification body, the Schools Interoperability Framework Association.

How SIF works

Rather than have each application vendor try to set up a separate connection to every other application, SIF has defined the set of rules and definitions to share data within a “SIF Zone”—a logical grouping of applications in which software application agents communicate with each other through a central communication point. Zones are managed by a piece of software called a Zone Integration Server (ZIS). A single ZIS can manage multiple Zones.

Data travels between applications as a series of standardized messages, queries, and events written in XML and sent using Internet protocols. The SIF specification defines such events and the “choreography” that allows data to move back and forth between the applications.

SIF Agents are pieces of software that exist either internal to an application or installed next to it. The SIF Agents function as extensions of each application and serve as the intermediary between the software application and the SIF Zone. The ZIS keeps track of the Agents registered in the Zone and manages transactions between Agents, enabling them to provide data and respond to requests. The ZIS controls all access, routing, and security within the system. Standardization of the behavior of the Agents and ZIS means that SIF can add standard functionality to a Zone by simply adding SIF-enabled applications over time.

I’m filing this under “educational technology - support”

My 3 person department supports (in no particular order)

1. Novell groupwise
2. Destiny Library catalog (textbook)
3. Norton ghost services
4. IIS webserver
5. Apache webserver
6. Antivirus server
7. VOIP server
8. Powerschool server (and dev box)
9. File server for students
10. File server for Elementary school
11. File server for multimedia lab
12. LDAP server (of course)
13. DHCP server
14. OS X server (used for cloning)
15. Print server

... and then there are switches, hubs (yes, we still use them), and other network devices.

ALL of these systems are very important. I’m thinking of all the people who be inconvenienced if even one system went down. Part of managing resources and attending to a school’s technology infrastructure is communicating what you do. I’ve found a periodic review of “systems, processes, and projects” technology is responsible for is helpful.

Well, I got an invite, and now I’m staring at an empty screen.  I’ve sent a few “um, hi?” messages to some friends, and now I’m waiting for a reply.  Google wave kind of reminds me of what I don’t like about skype (and video chatting). It dominates your time.  So when I fire up a video chat, all my other productivity stuff stops while I talk. 

I can see how google wave is sort of like a mix between IM and email, but to fully appreciate the “real-time-y-ness” of wave, I would have to schedule times to chat.  I’m eager to get into a real discussion with someone so I can can understand wave better.

I like email because I can decide WHEN to respond to it. I don’t want Wave taking away my “when”.

This was a beautiful comment question to this blog entry  I’d like to respond to.

I am all for using technology to actually teach with tools like:

1. Interactive whiteboards (or projectors)
2. Multimedia (you tube, podcasts, pictures)
3. Click response systems
4. 1:1 laptop work
5. Science probes (Vernier stuff)
6. Math calculators

I note your asked about “learning” rather than “teaching” I see a difference between those.

Using technology to teach is trickier than using to assess kids because it’s harder to see if technology is making a difference. So if Mrs. Smith teaches a unit on Columbus, or decided to explore “ethics and morality” in the 1400’s, is teaching with technology better than her non-technology methodology? This isn’t a trite question.  It actually goes to the heart of technology in education - is teaching with technology making it better? I know that kids seems more motivated and enthusiastic than when they are using technology.  I know that kids can see and hear more with technology and I believe teachers are the ones who ultimately must make this decision.

This is why I wrote about assessment - it’s a bit easier to see a product that demonstrates understanding than the process of learning.

I personally believe technology is superior tool for learning. It is, of course, a disruptive thing, as the students are leading the learning.

Interesting conversation with my boss.  We are talking about how to integrate technology into the curriculum, and I mentioned students should have a broader choice to express their understanding. Students need to be carefully supervised, and rubrics need to be used in order to ensure quality of the outcome.

So, after teaching the kids about conjugating the spanish AR verbs, the students could:

1. write a paper / story / report / news report
2. take a quiz or test
3. make a short presentation
4. make some sort of project (diorama, presentation board, etc…)

- and -

5. make a website that uses sound files, images and maybe primitive game to demonstrate how they know about spanish verbs
6. create a podcast where they interview their peers in Spanish, and ask the about AR verbs
7. make a short video / documentary about ar verbs - interview people or record themselves speaking in Spanish
8. make a stop-motion movie about the letters A and R and how they get along in a conversation
9. add to a school wiki, editing or creating a page that explains AR verbs or perhaps a long list of carefully organized conversational helpers with a focus AR verbs

I think all of these projects, if done right, would demonstrate learning. We could look at the work and say to ourselves (as teachers) Yup, this kid knows how to use and apply AR verbs. Coupled with a well-written rubric, we could ensure the student knows their stuff.  Of course the natural advantage of digital products is they are easy to share and store, and, especially in the case of wiki’s, they can be extended by the next class.

Teachers should be thinking about how students express themselves and their learning. Our job as educational technology folks is to teach the kids how to make these things, and to help the teacher design rubrics so the outcome isn’t all “fluff”.

At the end of the day, I think this is the most important question we can ask as educators. How do we know they know?

I love beautiful documentation - it just…works.

Code Igniter has the best documentation I’ve seen. Clean, clear, and here is the css and sample page to MAKE YOUR OWN.  I plan on using this documentation template for my school’s IT department.

The technology support index describes support capacity and efficiency for schools.  It is published by ISTE, and is a wonderful resource.

The only part I don’t like?  The document views having only one operating system as high efficiency - I agree that one OS is efficient, but not ideal - I think offering faculty a choice between 2 or 3 supported systems is the best way to go. I often talk about “what works best for the system administrator isn’t what works best for the school”.

For school administrators, I heartily recommend reviewing this document as a template for “how IT should function” in schools. 

Courtesy of Tom Hoffman who does some really good thinking about education. Actually, I highly recommend you subscribe to his blog feed, or bookmark his site.  I’ve never felt like I wasted my time reading his thought and ideas about education!

I have a standing policy to pay attention to people smarter than me - Tom certainly falls into this category.

I’ve used Expression Engine for years in K-12 schools. Far from just a normal content management system for our website, I love how easy it is to bend expression engine into interesting shapes and uses. I just finished working on an event / building and grounds request system and wanted to share our story.

A few years ago, I used EE to create a trouble ticket system (part 1 and part 2). Then, I used EE to create a very simple inventory system for our interactive whiteboards. 

The latest project can be seen here  (I’ve removed the generic logon so EE community members can see the front end. Normally, our teachers need to login to access this page). The system allows our teachers and staff to submit requests for building and grounds services, and requests to setup for events.  There is a control panel page that our building staff uses to see open requests, new requests, and urgent requests.

We used solspace’s free form module to create the forms for our end-users, and the control panel for our building and grounds staff. Our chief of building and grounds uses EE’s control panel to edit entries (usually, to just mark them closed). 

This project was a success. It was very easy to implement, it is customizable, and meets the need of our high school and elementary school.  For our building and grounds chief, though, the system is a godsend.  He is responsible for three different building in three different locations in New York City. This system allows him to login anywhere to see what is going on at our school.

I would be happy to discuss this with the community, or give a tour of the system. 

I’m a strong advocate of google and cloud-based services. I wrote an entry about my feelings of cloud-based services here. 

Recently, there have been some high-profile outages with google applications which naturally raise doubts and uncertainty about cloud-based services.  At our school, we are debating moving to google apps for education, which makes the outages poignant. 

I am still a believer, and when compared to our email server uptime, google seems to hold it’s own. I believe google offers best-of-class services that genuinely work in education, save time, and help “the mission” in schools around the world.

However, I think these latest events serve as a necessary humbling reminder that google is just another technology - susceptible to all the foibles, problems, and issues of technology anywhere.

To reset the lamp timer on a UNFI 45 (source here).

1. Press the power button on the ECP or remote twice to put the projector back into Standby mode. The
power button light on the ECP turns solid amber when the projector is in Standby.

2. Press and hold the up button on the remote control for approximately 10 seconds. When the projector
beeps, press and hold the down button on the remote control for approximately 10 seconds. The lamp
timer clears after another beep.

3. Press the power button on the ECP or remote to start up the system. The power button light on the ECP turns
solid green when the system starts.

4. To confirm that the lamp timer has been reset, press the MENU button on the remote control. Scroll to the
Status Display menu heading, and then confirm that 0 h appears in the Lamp timer field. Your lamp reset
count has increased by one.

5. Wait five minutes for the projector lamp to warm up.

6. After confirming that the lamp timer has been reset, put the system in Standby mode by pressing the power
button twice on the ECP or remote. The power button light on the ECP turns solid amber when the system is in
Standby.

7. Wait for the system to enter Standby mode, turn off the projector’s master power switch to shut off the system,
and then turn on the projector’s master power switch.

8. When you are ready to use the system, press the power button on the ECP to start up the system.

9. get out bottle of something strong

10. Drink until pain goes away.

I am in Poland for a wedding. A Polish wedding is a Wedding with a capital W. The ceremony is traditional, with priests doing priest stuff. But come the reception, an entirely different thing emerges.

Hot dishes are served until around 2:30am, and the band took a break at 5:00am! The reception was a true, veritable feast - wonderful food, drink, games, dancing, hearty singing - genuine expressions of happiness and joy. It was not a debauchery sort of thing - just a massive feast celebrating a wedding. I think the reception went on for 10 hours.  We slept, and then went to the bride’s home for more food and drink!!

We had the reception in a beautiful hotel.  Our four month old daughter was with us, and we decided to rent a room so she could sleep. My wife and I decided we would take turns watching her. As things turned out, I spent most of the time in the hotel room (by my choice) My wife is Polish, and we were at a wedding for her family - so it kind of made sense.

As I was sitting up in the room, listening to people laughing and the music thumping, and imagining all the food and drink, I started to feel a little self-pity.  I wanted to go down and be part of the party.

And then I had this realization that this is part of being a parent. I just watched my little girl sleep, and I listened to the music.  My wonderful wife brought up yummy food and drink for me every once in a while. It’s self-sacrifice in part, and putting my kid’s needs in front of my own. I’m not writing this to show what a great hero I am - it’s just a record of the first time “parenting” kind of hit me.