Envision, Encourage, Experience

My husband, Cal, sent me this video link and I just have to share!

As I have gotten older, I sound more an older person that I care to admit, with sayings like “they didn’t have those when I went to school” or “they didn’t have that when I had babies” - implying that somehow with this new “toy” life is easier for the younger person.

Ok, but I think  you have to agree, those of us who grew up memorizing flash cards night after night, that this would have been a much more fun way of learning math. This video of a game called “Mat-matics” really proves that math can be fun!! Mat-matics is a dance based video game to practice math skills. If you are familiar with Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), you get the idea. The player is presented with math problems and must step on the right “buttons” to answer the question. According to Dan Hoffman, the narrator of the video, it was designed for elementary school children for them “to be more confident and flexible mathematical thinkers.” Dan is from the Department of Math, Science & Technology, Teachers College at Columbia University.

Having been a teen librarian prior to becoming an academic librarian, I can tell you that DDR is appealling to kids of all ages. I would have game days at the library and kids as young as 3 would want to play (which they did, even if someone nonchalantly stepped on a “button” for them so the game would continue longer) as well as adults well into their retirement years also gave it a try. I see this being a great tool for schools, which many are already using DDR in their gym classes. DDR also appeals equally  to boys and girls. And even for those students that may need some “catch up” this is definitely a way to get them engaged.

If I may say it one more time … they didn’t teach math like this when I was a kid!

Summer is almost officially over — faculty are to report next week (although us librarians are on a flex schedule, so I have been working since July 1), and classes start in about two weeks but the fun is just beginning.

Pima Community College’s Downtown Campus has been awarded a Title V grant by the US Depart of Education. (Read the AP article  here.)  Yes, the board has to approve it, but personally, I can’t imagine why they won’t. I have been asked to serve on the committee and I am very excited!!

The grant will be used to “revamp the curriculum and offer intensive teacher training to give a wider range of teaching styles and learning options for the students said David Irwin, a PCC spokesman”. In other words, we will be training faculty in a number of things, including incorporating technology into the classroom.

Last year I started a Sandbox here at the Downtown Campus. The Sandbox was a time for faculty, staff and students to come and play with technology. We played with the SmartBoard, PowerPoint, learned about Web 2.0 technology and how it can be used in the classroom and about new ‘toys’. They came to play, to learn, on their own time. Many faculty came and played with the SmartBoard. While they might have had training on it when they started, they weren’t ready for it then. Students came for the SmartBoard also, to incorporate into their presentations. PowerPoint was also a student favorite. The Sandbox was a great success and I plan on running it again this year.

I believe the Sandbox opened the college’s eyes that faculty are open to technology; faculty just may not know what is out there or what to do with it. I had faculty from 3 of the 5 campuses come to my Sandbox, driving across town to come and play. (I’ve even had a couple of former Pima students hear about it and ask to come and “play” before a presentation for a job interview - to be sure they were on top of their game.) The Title V grant will have technology incorporated into it. Also, if you read the 2008-2011 College Plan you see the Sandbox idea noted several times (4.4.1, 4.4.2, 6.2.5 - are just a few) as well as encouraging innovation in its faculty. I truly believe that the majority of faculty are reading, willing and able to incorporate technology into their classrooms, we just need to give them the tools and training; and additional training when THEY need or want it. ( For it to be meaningful, it must be relevant to the learner.)

I see a lot of challenges, and many new opportunities working on this grant, not counting the adventures I have (and love) doing bibliographic instruction and reference work working as a librarian. Reference work is like a puzzle, a Sudoku, you know there is a solution, but you just have to find the “key” to get to the solution. (Yes, I love Sudokus!)

And all this fun and excitement is just at work. I haven’t even begun to talk about finishing up at Pepperdine — working on my comps in the fall and then moving on to my dissertation in the Spring. Gosh! The coming new year will be an exciting one for me.

While in DC, out of the 16 meetings I attended, 3 were ones that I set up. I was advocating for Internet safety education, which is currently in several bills (S. 1965, S 2344, H.R. 3461, H.R. 4134 - of which the last two have been passed by the House and is currently in a Senate committee). One bill (S. 49), has incorporated the DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act) bill I was originally advocating against. I chose to focus instead on why education is the right way to address Internet and minors safety versus restricting or banning sites.

I had meetings with Congressman Grijalva’s children and education aide Joseph Mais, Senator Kyl’s aides Jim Swift (Telecom), and Tom Humphery (Judiciary) and with Adam Thierer at the Center for Digital Media Freedom, which is part of The Progress & Freedom Foundation.

Prior to our trip, we each had to prepare a 30 second elevator speech, a 3 minute speech and then something longer, for in-depth information if we were given the time. In the meetings with the representatives’ aids I started with my 3 minute speech and then had a handout that I gave them, highlighting certain points that I felt were important. I talked with Congressman’s Grijalva’s aid, but as there were no bills currently in the house, I did talk to him about the ones in the Senate that may make it to House. At Senator Kyl’s office, I asked the senator’s aides what his position was regarding these bills. Neither addressed a specific bill, but did tell me he was very concerned about what minors were exposed to on the internet. In reply, I focused about why the internet safety education bills would be best to address his concerns.

My most dynamic meeting was with Adam Thierer at the Center for Digital Media Freedom. There I was advocating as much as explaining what I know about it to see if I was on the right track and then listened to what what his organization is doing. WOW! I was very impressed as was my cadremates who attended. According to their website, “the Center will protect America’s sacred First Amendment heritage and promote enlightened public policy regarding all forms of communications.” Mr. Thierer was previously with the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. He spoke of what I have been advocating for - that education is the key to internet safety for minors. He believes it should be a national campaign, comparing it to the Smokey the Bear (Only YOU can prevent forest fires),  and the National Highway Safety Administration’s ClickIt or Ticket for the enforcement of using seat belts. He identified several states that have effective campaigns - Virginia and Washington. When we left, over an hour later, my head was spinning. Since I have looked to see what Arizona has to offer regarding Internet Safety. What I found was a website with education for parents on internet safety (ikeepsafe.org) and our Attorney General, Terry Goddard has created a task force. I have been toying with the idea of volunteering to work on an internet safety campaign for the state, but unsure of the time required. (I am finishing up my doctoral coursework this summer; comps in the fall and then working on my dissertation.) I really believe in this and I have always advocated for putting your time where your mouth is. (A spin on the “put your money where your mouth is” - meaning if you are going to complain, then work to make it better.) I guess I could send an email …

References:

Library of Congress Thomas http://thomas.loc.gov/

Continuing on the reinventing education theme, many of those we met with believed that education needs to be revamped - not in just bringing computers/laptops or other technology into the classroom, but a true re-structuring in how education is delivered.

Our conversations included learning effectiveness, understanding that teachers are not inter-changeable, moving to global/international standards, learning choices, moving to a competency based system, service learning, local involvement for policy change (change agents), learning eco-system, and participatory pedagogy. The discussions were very enlightening and energizing.

While many of these ideas may be new to us, our students are ready for them and in many ways are already doing them. They do not limit themselves to what is in their “backyard” - they are open to discovery and want to experience all they can. I am very much aware of it. I see it in the library instruction I do, in the reference questions I answer, I saw it in my previous job as a teen librarian at a public library. I don’t see it as a bad thing - just a different way of learning. For years educators have been aware of the different learning styles and the multiple intelligences and have been adapting educational environments and lessons to meet their needs; I see today’s students has taking it to the next level.

As a librarian I see things changing for the better. I see social networking and the empowerment it brings to students having a voice as a good thing. I see making more material available to everyone a good thing, whether it be an e-book, a journal article online or a website. I think tagging or folksonomy is great, as are social bookmarking sites. (see a link to my del.icio.us account on the left)

I don’t feel threatened that my job will disappear. I think it is evolving and will continue to evolve. As David Weinberger said in Everything is Miscellaneous “because knowledge is as big as reality, no one person can comprehend it. So we need people who act as filters, using their education, experience, and clear thinking.” This is why we need teachers who want to see education evolve. If it is evolving it is growing, it is innovating, it is creative… it is responsive to our students needs, no matter what they may be.

As I briefly touched on in my last post, the educational environment needs to change. It needs to better reflect what is best for our students, not what is easiest on schools because it has been done for that last 100 years. Paraphrasing Tom Carroll of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, prior to the Internet, most of a student’s education came from their teachers. If not from their teachers, then from their parents and book probably obtained at the library. Today though, students have access to information almost everywhere - not only when they are in a classroom or working at their desks but where ever they are: when they are on their computers, where they can not only look up information, but converse with experts in chat rooms or via email; on their phones, where again, information is available with just a few buttons, even some libraries offer reference assistance via texting; even on some game systems players play against others miles away or converse with each other for tips, codes and/or cheats. Information is everywhere!

Teachers do not play the same role for today’s students as it did when I was a kid. Education has evolved into something that can and should be dynamic and fluid, not static and dull. I believe classrooms could become something so exciting if just given the chance. Activities that take place outside of the classroom, whether on a field trip to a museum or a park, or playing Quest Atlantis - learning can be fun. I also believe that informal learning has the greatest impact on learning - learning when you don’t know you are learning. Learning while doing something you enjoy is not a chore, memorization comes more easily and it tends to be retained longer. All of this is because it was put into a context of something - not just a fact read about or lectured on. It was a hands on activity where the assignment became real.

For education to be relevant to students, it needs to put at their level. I believe that project based learning is a great way to have educational materials presented to students in a relevant way. Or in simulations and gaming type environments. Quest Atlantis is one example of students learning in an informal setting - often on their own time!

On a final note, this time paraphrasing Gay Gilbert from the Department of Labor, we can work on revamping education to meet today’s students needs or we can pay for it later. I believe she used the term Preventive Education (think preventive medicine) in how we should be handling education today. Using government entities as an example - we can let the Department of Education do it or have the Justice Department ( educate them when they are in the criminal system) or Department of Labor (educate them with workforce training) do it.

Which organization do you prefer your son or daughter be educated in?

As I have stated before, the DC trip was part of my Policy course in Pepperdine University’s doctoral Ed Tech program. I have been asked numerous times this past week what I enjoyed most and to be truthful, the list is too long. I typically give a tidbit or two of one day’s experiences. I would like to share some with you, giving you a tidbit or two every day this week.

Comments we heard during the week were similar to the same concerns as most of us in my class have - how to get more collaboration in the classroom, and how to make it more engaging. We heard that homeschooling is the model of the future of education. Not that students will be schooled at home, but that education will look differently than it does now. One person suggested that there might be a menu of items that students could choose from to meet a course requirement. Another mentioned having more gaming/simulations or something like the Lego robotics in the classroom. These would increase engagement of students and make learning more fun - kids may not even know they are learning! We also heard that there needs to be a greater focus on vocational training - perhaps in high schools or in collaboration with community or technical colleges in the community. (This is something I have been advocating, for many years.)

Looking outside the typical school day was an organization looking at the informal learning happening in after school programs; be it from field trips and guest speakers, or from the everyday play of basketball when some math concepts are introduced.

The reason for the change in education - simply said — times have changed and so have our students . One person said it well when they described today’s classroom as the design of the industrial age; how to efficiently teach numerous students at once. In other words, assembly-line instruction. We are in the 21st Century but we are still teaching with 19 & 20th Centuries formats. We have not taken advantage of the tools we have available to us to make education more engaging.

Today’s students are different - they are used to having multiple stimuli hitting them. They are on the computer while watching TV, listening to the radio and playing computer games; their attention span is shorter but their receptors are heightened. People argue that if you have multiple things going on (aka: multi-tasking), then you can not do any of them well - that may be true, but for this generation of students, their goal is not always to do something well as they can, as much as it is to experience as much as possible. They don’t want to be left out of anything. When they need to put 100% effort into something they can, but they see most of their day-in, day-out activities as just part of the experience of life.

I truely believe that the education system needs to be revamped to reflect the students. It was done before. When students could not come to school during certain times of the year due to family farm duties, schools accommodated them with a change in schedule. One reason the US started day light savings time was to accommodate students taking buses to school. Educators and parents need to demand changes in education - change doesn’t happen swiftly, but it must be started for it to move forward, forward into the 21st Century.

So many things happened last week in DC I really have no idea where to start , so I am going to start with the first thing that caught my eye - books. Since most of our meetings were in an organization’s meeting rooms, I am going to assume that the books that lined their bookshelves are books that the organization in general found of interest, perhaps purchased and passed around until they found their way into the meeting rooms bookshelves. I am also going to assume that it is not anyone’s current reading material, as that would most likely be found on their desk, ready to be read when a few moments can be found.

Also, I’m not going to identify the organizations, how many times for each title, nor all the books that I noted - just those that, well, that I found interesting. Looking at the list, I find several that are also on mine and even more that I find interesting. (A couple I need to add to my list of must-reads for my dissertation lit review.) How many of these books are on your bookshelf?

What I found… being in DC there were plenty of books on the history of the US, government, leadership and economy (national and global):

For the Record: A Documentary History of America (multi-volume set) by David Shi and Holly Mayer

Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research

Digital Delirium by Kroker and Kroker

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Clicks and Mortar: Passion-Driven Growth in an Internet Driven World by D.S. Pottruck and T. Pearce

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by James C. Collins

The Age of Access: The New Culture of Hypercapitalism, Where all of Life is a Paid-For Experience by Jeremy Rifkin

Digital Economy by Don Tapscott

Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs by Don Tapscott, David Ticoll, and Alex Lowry

Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America by Fiorina, Abrams, and Pope

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

And since most of our meetings were with educational organizations, if was not unusual to find books on education:

Smart Machines in Education by K.D. Forbus and P.J. Feltovich

John Dewey and the Philosophy and Practice of Hope by Stephen Fishman and Lucille McCarthy

Brave New Schools by Berit Kjos

The Challenges of School Reform: Implementation, Impact, and Sustainability

Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation by Don Tapscott

FAILURE TO CONNECT: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds — and What We Can Do About It by Jane M. Healy

Digital Literacy by Paul Gilster

The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School by Neil Postman

Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century

Democracy and Education by John Dewey

Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work by David A. Garvin

School Power: Implications of an Intervention Project by James P. Comer

The Flickering Mind: The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom and How Learning Can Be Saved by Todd Oppenheimer

The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, And The Attack On America’s Public Schools by Berliner and Biddle

And of course, some techie books…

The Internet and Society by James Slevin

The Social Life of Information by Brown and Duguid

Trust in Cyberspace

Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century by Mark Dery

Tomorrow I am off to Washington DC. I have been there many times, the most recent was last summer for the American Library Association’s 2007’s Annual Conference. (As a kid, my parents would take the family there every other year for vacation.)

Our cadre, cadre xii, in Pepperdine University’s Ed Tech doctoral program will do a “field trip” as part of our policy class. Our class meets up Tuesday and from Wednesday to Friday we meet and experience DC. However, several of us are getting there early to get a hea start. Monday we are meeting with the National Science Foundation (NSF), International Society for Tehcnology in Education (ISTE) and the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future (NCTAF). Tuesday’s meetings include the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Department of Labor.

Wednesday we are on Capital Hill - breakfast with Senator Feinstein, tour of the Capital, then I meet with a staffer from Representative Grijalva’s office. After lunch a tour of the Supreme Court, then a meeting with staffers from Senator Kyl’s office before our debriefing back at the hotel.

Thursday is just as busy - we have two meetings at the US Department of Education, then a meeting with the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and finishing up the morning at National Education Association (NEA) with a meeting and lunch. After lunch, we meeting with Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) and then the Center for Digital Media Freedom before our debriefing.

Friday we start with a tour of the Pentagon, then a tour of the Library of Congress. We finish the day with a High Tech Summit Cable in the Classroom and our debriefing. Saturday I head home and start to sort out all that I been exposed to.

Stay tuned for my adventures to the Nation’s Capital!