XKCD (2009). Kindle. Retrieved 5/10/2009 from http://xkcd.com/548/

A recent article by Dennis Carter in eSchool News titled ‘New Kindle is textbook friendly’ describes Amazon Inc.’s new Kindle DX. The Kindle DX electronic reading device allows users to highlight, take notes, search school libraries, read magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and PDF files on a 9.7 inch screen with a QWERTY keyboard. The DX also has improved quality for viewing images and graphics. The Kindle DX is going to be piloted on five U.S. campuses this fall. The textbook companies Pearson, Wiley, and Cengage Learning will make books available for downloading this summer. Because e-books eliminate printing costs they are available for download at prices cheaper than paper books which could save students hundreds to thousands of dollars every year.

I think it is really great that the Kindle DX is going to be piloted in colleges this fall. I don’t think that the current version of Kindle is necessarily going to be the one that becomes widespread. For one the Kindle does not have a great web browser. If we are going for lightening the cost of textbooks for students than the Kindle could be a viable option, but if we also want to lighten the load caused by carrying your life on your back as you cross campus then the Kindle should include a good web browser. Carrying a Kindle and a lap top seems redundant. iphones have an application that can be used to read ebooks and can also access the web, e-mail, etc… The other issue with the Kindle for use on campuses is that the screens can break even when they are in the case. The potential for ultimate frisbee accidents seems high and at $489 a piece replacing the Kindle will get expensive, more so than buying textbooks. Another concern with the kindle was expressed in Steve’s blog. Steve raises the issue of equity in use of a technology such as Kindle. At such a high price it seems unlikely that all schools would have equal access to the technology. Additionally, due to the fagile nature of the product I am doubtful that students will be allowed to handle them frequently, much less take them home. In a school textbooks are costly but are not more expensive than kindles for each student. Textbooks can also last for many years. Most schools keep textbooks around for a good long time and updates to content is handled with supplemental materials. Overall I think that ebooks are the future of textbooks but are far from ready to be in today’s classrooms.

I would like to say that when I teach I would utilize technology more often and more effectively than the teachers I observe. I hesitate to say that when even young teachers, like my own mentor teacher, are not all using technology, though it is something they would have grown-up with and been trained to use. The potential for student learning when technologies like SMARTboards, blogs, websites, etc… are great, but it seems something is stopping teachers from choosing to use them. Hopefully through the skills and content learned in the EMAT515 course and some experimenting I will learn to effectively utilize technology to further student learning of content material and develop technological literacy.

This weeks eschool news article by Dennis Carter titled New standards to facilitate eLearning reports that educators and technology executives developed a common set of standards that will allow any kind of digital learning content to be used with any type of learning management system, student information system, or web portal. Common Cartridge (CC) would provide a standard way to represent digital course material for use in online learning systems and enable new publishing models for online course materials and digital books that are interactive and can be distributed online without compatability issues. Professors could create online courses that integrate several websites. Additionally courses created online could be imported to other platforms (life from Desire2Learn to Blackboard). These sites would be integrated so that students could log onto several web sites through one account. In Michael Korcuska’s sakaiblog “Common Cartridge is cool; LTI is even cooler” he suggests that CC will not provide what publishers needs most. The highest value content is becoming more interactive, require custom platforms to run, and are therefore not something you could put in a .zip file and import into CC. LTI, which stands for Learning Tools Interoperability Specification can launch a remote application, have the application and LMS platform communicate during the learning session, and have results from the users interaction fed back to the LMS. Regardless of its weaknesses CC would reduce the cost and hassle of creating and utilizing online course material and material can be converted usig one of many downloadable tools.
I don’t understand enough about the way online courses are set up but it seems that CC would allow a student to access blackboard material as well as sakai material using one account and makes creating and transferring online courses much more streamline for professors. I am all for anything that makes online learning streamline and lest costly. It is especially exciting to think that the best parts of blackboard could be used in conjuction with the best parts of programs like myclasses or livetext.

Pedro Noguera speaks at Salisbury University, 10/10/09. Photo Source.

March 10, 2009 Salisbury University continued the E. Pauline Riall Lecture series with speaker Pedro Noguera. Noguera’s lecture “Challenging Racial Inequality in Our Schools” addressed the state of race relations and inequality and factors that promote and decrease student achievement. Noguera told a story about working at a school where kids would remain in the parking lot, rather than attend classes. The school developed a relationship with area businesses to create institutes that upon completion, students could begin working at the partnered company. This story highlights the importance of relating material to students lives, such that they have a reason to learn. I think technology can be a great tool for relating material to students interests and also to their future career goals. Technology is present in nearly every occupational field, more importantly to students, they use technology every day. Most students have cell phones, surf the internet, keep blogs, e-mail, etc… Creating lessons where material is introduced, reinforced, or assessed with technology would be a good way to get students who are not usually enthusiastic about learning, back into classrooms.

Another Anecdote Noguera shared was about a school in the Bronx that housed a museum related to the history of the Bronx. The student giving Noguera a tour of the school was shocked when he asked if the school worried about students vadalizing the museum. She said the students didn’t vandalize the museum because they were proud of it. A related tale told of a school that only took science equipment out when students were being “good” because they were afraid the students would break it. The difference between a school that trusts its students and a school that doesn’t will be reflected in student attitudes toward the school. If schools do not expect much from their students, they won’t get much from them. This relates to use of technology in schools as well. Schools and teachers need to be willing to trust their students to conduct experiments, make videos, and use computers. Even the most impoverished and low achieving schools need technology. It is up to the school to create an environment in which the technology will be safe. In response to James Hesen’s Blog on the use of clickers in the classroom. Conor McLennan wrote “Although there are challenges associated with the use of innovative teaching strategies and technologies, this doesn’t mean that professors should stop trying to develop new and exciting ways to engage students, to make classes and course material more interesting, and to improve instruction and student learning.” Facing the challenges of providing all students with an adequate education is challenge, but a challenge that we must face and win. Technology, appropriately used, can be a great means toward the end of equal education, and the unequal access to technology in our schools illustrates the distance we are from this end.

The main issues facing school IT programs are funding for both staff, equipment, and equipment maintenance. A need also exists for greater bandwith to reduce strain on infrastructure.

Despite the challenges schools are reaching some ed-tech goals like faculty intranet, secure remote network access, and having web portals. This has been accomplished by teaming up with neighboring districts to share resources and identifying secondary support personnel. A controversial way to reduce time spent dealing with software problems is the Software as a Service model where applications are hosted by the service provider and delivered over the Internet. Concerns have arisen about the security of information on this system. The service can also be expensive.

I liked that this article puts focus on the forgotten, yet indispensable, IT staff that allows schools to use their technology. There are many programs to get computers, smart boards, and laboratory equipment into schools but the cost and man power needed to keep that technology running is overlooked. How many times do students go to the computer lab only to find that the network is down or that the program they need to use isn’t running properly. It is no wonder that IT staff have little time to work with teachers or plan new projects. More reliable technology is used more often by teachers and so perhaps our schools would be better off receiving funds for more IT staff or more infrastructure rather than a few more computers or a new software.

The report Benchmarking for Success found that, globally, the U.S. ranks 25th in math and 21st in science. The U.S. also ranks high in inequity for socioeconomic status. The recommendation is to renew focus on international benchmarking and looking to other countries when drafting state achievement standards. In practice this would involve upgrading state standards such that they are internationally benchmarked, ensure school resources are aligned to internationally benchmarked standards and draw on best practices from other nations, recruit more top performing teachers, and support those teachers. States should also increase school accountability and assess students in ways that are easily comparable to international performance.

What strikes me about this article is that many of the recommendations should be being addressed through the No Child Left Behind Act. Hiring ‘highly qualified’ teachers is similar to recruiting teachers from the top performers. The issue for the U.S. is, of course, that many top graduates can get higher paying and more autonomous, and more prestigious jobs quite easily. NCLB increased school accountability, but has unrealistic expectations of schools, especially given the lack of resources and support offered to failing schools. It is unlikely that states will receive additional support from the government for internationally alighned texts, curricula, and technology, especially during the current recession. The recommendations aimed at the states are very much dependent on a society that values education more than the U.S. currently demonstrates. While the report on international benchmarking offers important evidence of the need for the U.S. to put more resources and research into improving education and lists steps toward increasing student achievement, the reality of U.S. societal values and economic situation make it unlikely that the recommendations will be implemented until there are concrete effects from our educational shortcomings.

Regardless of the actions taken by federal and state governments, as teachers we benefit our students when we keep in mind the necessity to prepare them to a competitive global economy and remain lifelong learners in both our content area and teaching practices.