Chatting ≠ educational??

...just trying to play around with chatting here at school. I feel that when all the computers get the "clean sweep" (a.k.a. when they are imaged), iChat will be blocked. There have already been multiple times when I have used iChat to transfer documents/presentations from myself to another teacher and vice versa. I believe we may need to rethink the supposed "sinning" that is involved with chat programs.

The websites for Google Talk and Skype are both blocked. About a year ago I watched a piece on the news (local; WGAL; Lancaster, PA) about two classes presenting speeches to each other (10 miles away) because they felt that presenting to strangers allowed for more authentic critique of their work. One piece of evidence suggesting that chatting might be an important part of this 21st century education everyone is talking about.

-- The state has to think its important: Though the macbook comes equipped with a webcam, the PC package arrives with an external webcam.

Oct. 4...from an email expressing concerns w/ quick implementation of CFF

I believe in the "idea" of classroom for the future. The few things that were major concerns of mine have quickly become incredible, brain-power-consuming issues with the news that the hardware will arrive at any time. Though I'm sure people across the street (I'm sitting in my room at the high school now) are answering the tough questions, how much thought can be put into decisions in such a short period of time? Here are few of the issues that worry me:

What rights will students/teachers have over their laptops' look/feel? Example of issue: If the dock placement is interfering with what I want to do, can I change it, hide it, shrink it, or even remove the magnification feature? This is something that science teachers are currently unable to adjust on our older iBook cart. Also allowing students to have some "ownership" of the machine has been shown to reduce damage (middle school teachers in Maine found less total damage to laptops when they went pure 1-to-1 and allowed their students to take the machines home, as compared to when they shared a few laptop carts over the entire school. This is an incredible statistic considering they probably now have at least 10x the number of computers). This "ownership" can come in the form of allowing students to adjust the display setting to their liking. This sounds unimportant and trivial, but visual customization IS ownership. Look how often these kids changes their MySpace layouts.

What rights will teachers have in terms of installing useful widgets/plugins/software? Examples of issue: If a teacher has a series of photos that they want to use in class are they going to be able to download and install a simple plugin for iPhoto (awesome software) allowing them to quickly upload their photos to their flickr or picasa web album accounts? If a teacher is encouraging his/her students to use a social bookmarking site in class, are they going to run into issues when they try to install or update a del.icio.us plugin for firefox (are they even going to have firefox)? Is it possible for me to purchase iWork to use on my teacher laptop? One of the largest concerns for teachers is the amount of time it takes to learn the tools and use them effectively. If a "time-conscious" teacher knows there are ways to do things faster than they are currently allowed, they will become annoyed and eventually frustrated. I like to use the following analogy for computer use yesterday and today/tomorrow: The computer in schools used to be glorified paper, dated library, and a filing cabinet. The computer is now a library, telephone, new textbook, newspaper, journal, community center, paper and filing cabinet. That's a lot of tools to install/update periodically. I feel that educating and holding teachers accountable for responsible use and legality of software use fits with the adage, "Give a man a fish... Teach a man to fish..."

Will the current web filter loosen up? Example of issue: In teaching students information literacy, website reliability and good search technique a teacher encourages students to narrow results by doing an advanced Google search. The filter blocks the ability to complete an advanced search through google. I know that the school is required by law to protect its students from content on the internet. Is it possible to protect the kids by lightening the filtering while offering more of an education on the SWSD acceptable use policy and good browsing practice? Though there is much "sketchy" content on youtube, there is also value for teachers. I realize that TeacherTube has been proposed as a fit alternative. Though it does host a lot of content, you must be a member to comment on a video. You must be 18+ years old and an educator to become a member. Therefore, videos are no longer accompanied by a conversation. These conversations provide the value in the collaborative web.


What will happen when a student violates the acceptable use policy? Example of issue: John visits a dirty site. The abridged technology acceptable use policy in the student handbook lists John's minimum punishment of, "Suspension of information network access." Without access to the network, John is unable to participate in class as he/she normally would. I believe that the consequences for AUP violations should be reevaluated prior to the placement of laptops in classrooms (if they haven't already been).

Sept. 18... Email to college advisor, apple geek, science ed professor, cool guy.

The email starts with a discussion of the iPhone which I didn't feel that I needed to include


...Some more good news to pass along: South Western is a CFF winner this year. Though the school only got half of the original amount requested, I am one of 4 science teachers to receive the package.

We were able to choose what package (Lenovo or Apple) we wanted on a teacher-by-teacher basis. You will be happy to know that I chose the apple package, and will be personally ordering a keyboard, mighty mouse and 23" cinema display to park in my house.

With this opportunity presented by the CFF grant, comes the scary task of making sure that it is "done" correctly. I feel that my department is innovative/open-minded and therefore has the opportunity to be the positive driving force behind other those that get frustrated. I think about CFF every day and often wonder how the 1-to-1* idea fits in with an already crammed standards-based format which we are to be using now (and which we are being tested upon). Surely teaching the nature of science (which was apparently half the PSSA during round one) fits well with the 1-to-1 model, but 1-to-1/CFF is often associated with great student productions. My experience is that teachers become frustrated when thinking about the time spent on student vod/podcasts, and therefore other options and examples need to be presented.

There needs to be a large cache of great ideas/projects/assignments/tactics people have used. Maybe there already is something like this? Maybe it's something I need to start? Maybe a google group for CFF/1-to-1 educators? Maybe a google group for CFF/1-to-1 educators in each core subject area?

This email has obviously committed a flagrant foul with regard to the 5-sentence rule. Sorry. I've been meaning to start blogging my CFF experiences. Looks like I just wrote my first entry in this email.

*I say 1-to-1 while understanding that true 1-to-1 doesn't just happen in core classes and allows students to have a little more ownership in the machines.

Past "Posts"

I have recently found myself finishing discussions and emails with the comment, "Sounds like a blog entry." Well here goes...

This blog will take you through my beginnings as a CFF teacher, concerns, problems and certainly successes of the project. Please comment.

Since I've sent a view blog worthy emails, they will be my first few entries.