Internet equity…

http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/20/study-free-computers-dont-close-the-rich-poor-education-gap/

I think this article is another example of something we’ve heard again and again from different sources. Giving people technology is not the answer to all of life’s problems. As the article states, the problem lies more in the family and environment than whether someone has or does not have technology. Even if the technology is given “FREE OF CHARGE”, how is it being used?? on games, social networking and entertainment… maybe even inappropriate sites??

Although general computer use increases basic computer literacy, I don’t think it’s a good use of time and resources for the whole student… to be learning social and learning skills that will help them succeed in life and not just being able to use whatever the current technology is at the time. We should learn from the LA Unified school districts attempt at rolling out ipads for students and not make the same mistakes that have cost millions of dollars and hundreds of hours that could have been spent on helping students “learn” and grow as individuals. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ipad-curriculum-refund-20150415-story.html#page=1

The video from Comcast also sheds light on what the needs are in the classroom and makes an attempt to “level the playing field.” I commend its efforts and the intentions behind the program of enabling families to access the internet but believe it should also include training/education for adults to know how to guide their kids to healthy internet use, without which, could lead to all kinds of problems for students as well as the family. e.g. internet addiction, struggles with pornography/violence, etc…

Some good programs/resources are:

http://www.netsmartzkids.org/ – These are some fun ways to expose kids to the reality of the dangers of the internet. My wife and I have used these videos for our kids at home to introduce them to internet safety.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ – I liked their curriculum and will use it based on where the students are at in terms of grade, level of technology understanding and maturity.

Flipped classroom – Cow art

https://edpuzzle.com/media/55a0b39643c095ea766d604a

At first it was a struggle trying to save/download Powtoon into a format that I could use with EDpuzzle so eventually downloaded a free trial of Camtasia Studio 8 which was pretty amazing. It could import videos, increase the speed of the audio to speed through dead times, I could import power point slides, add audio as I was capturing the Powtoons file and saved it as an avi file.

I also downloaded a youtube video using Dirpy and then imported that into Camtasia. I did some editing to take out dead times and then finally rendered it into an mp4 file which I uploaded onto EDpuzzle. I then made some questions for kids to answer stopping at different points.

Tumblr… do I need it?

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IuNcr_RrbMDW0xUlm3B6oFaXVP4tcTxg6CrmLK8xx1g/edit#slide=id.p4

(sorry, I just updated this because I originally had a powerpoint file).

After doing an interview with my 17 year old daughter, doing some of my own research and then using it for a while, I decided that it’s not something that is soooo distinct that I will need to create an account and keep up with another social media platform. Especially because of the sexually explicit content that is not monitored well by Tumblr that could cause people(including myself) to stumble onto pornagraphic sites/images. It’s disturbing that “some porn bloggers earn money by referring traffic to adult businesses through referrals and widgets.^” Edwards, Jim (September 12, 2011). “Why Tumblr Must Kill What Made it Big: Porn and Copyright Violations”. CBSNews.com. Retrieved March 28, 2013.

Founder and CEO of Tumblr, David Karp (29), “revealed in June 2012 that between 2 and 4 percent of Tumblr’s traffic is porn-related.” Farber, Dan (June 15, 2012). “Tumblr for iOS launching next week”. CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.

So for me, that would be a “NO” for my heart, mind and eyes sake.

Negative consequences, timeouts, and punishment just make bad behavior worse. But a new approach really works…

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/schools-behavior-discipline-collaborative-proactive-solutions-ross-greene

Looks like they are onto to something here with stats to back it up… over a 2 year period in one school, referrals to the principal went from 145 to only 45, in a hospital group, the use of physical & chemical restraints(i.e. sedatives) went down from 20 per month to 0 after implementing the new approach for 1 year.

Is “MORE” = “BETTER”? – Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up 2014 Student Survey

In my opinion, not necessarily. Others also share this opinion.

More Technology Not Always Better, Says Top Teacher

http://www.schoolnewsnetwork.org/index.php/2014-15/more-technology-not-always-better-says-top-teacher/

IS TECHNOLOGY DOING YOU MORE HARM THAN GOOD?

http://paidtoexist.com/is-technology-doing-you-more-harm-than-good/

I see a lot of statistics about how students/staff are using technology more but I didn’t see a whole lot about how it’s affecting achievement scores nor how its impacted their emotional/physical health (e.g. increase in family conflicts/tensions, increase in ADHD or a rise in other mental health issues due to increased use of technology). I also didn’t see research on the challenges teachers face in keeping students on task from the constant distractions students face online doing what they want to do with social media.

As far as I’ve read, the article did not address other issues like how online classes affects some students’ ability to connect with relationships outside of the virtual world (i.e. underdevelopment of social/emotional coping skills). It might be great and necessary for some to utilize because of circumstances (i.e. hospitalization/medical issues, physical location/accessibility) but for a vast majority of students, it may not be necessary.

One statistic makes me question if the survey is really all that helpful in understanding the true positive impact of technology. For example, “one third of Grade 6-8 online learners (35 percent) strongly agree that technology enhances their engagement in learning compared to 30 percent of students in traditional learning environments.” How accurately can a middle schooler gauge his/her whether something enhances their engagement?

Bottom line, just because you use technology more or can access knowledge/information faster doesn’t always mean that it’s good for them in the long run. I believe the goal of education is not more/faster knowledge but more life maturity… and a holistic view of life. I’ve seen and read about athletes who burn out at a very young age because they were just too intense in their quest for physical domination. I can see the same thing happening to young children if they are given the same kind of freedom and direction for their lives and burning out their minds/emotions in their youth.

My take on Brain rules…

I think he has a lot of good things to say about how the brain functions. I agree with a lot of what he said because in my opinion, they are common sense/logical deduction principles but packaged in a nice set of 12 with nice videos and charts. For example, the fact that brain pathways are physiological changed based on decisions that we make, it makes sense that not one brain is going to be the same as anyone else’s. Stressed brains are not going to perform as well as those that are not under stress. Repeat to remember? Hasn’t this been taught by teachers since the beginning?

I think he makes some good points. I liked what he had to say about our brain does not do multi-tasking higher level tasks well, thus being less productive/efficient even though we “feel” more productive. It’s the delusion that being busy means that you are being productive which I don’t believe in.

• Workplaces and schools actually encourage this type of multi-tasking. Walk into any office and you’ll see people sending e-mail, answering their phones, Instant Messaging, and on MySpace—all at the same time. Research shows your error rate goes up 50% and it takes you twice as long to do things.
• When you’re always online you’re always distracted. So the always online organization is the always unproductive organization.