Give Em' an Inch and They'll Take a Mile

So it's finally happened. A school system has made something great and made it better? I don't think so!!!

As I'm sure many of you have already heard that the Philadelphia school system has a federal court case against it in regards to it's 1:1 program. Apparently, they've been snapping photos of their students at home, doing whatever it is they do there. They even think that one of the perpetrators may have been a voyeur. WOW!!!!! You can see the article HERE. They allegedly took photos of the students half naked, in bed, and other completely 100% private activities. The only way anyone found out is that one of the administrators approached the student and told him that he was engaging in inappropriate behavior. That "behavior" was supposedly pill popping in which the parents informed the school that they had been Mike and Ike's candy. Unbelievable.

Now of course they're going to get sued and they'll probably lose which in my opinion is great. Definitely some Constitutional issues there. When did it become the case that school officials felt like they needed to invade the privacy of the bedroom? Sure, it's important for teachers to know what is going on in their students lives but in this case, somebody went WAY overboard. If they did it with the best of intentions, which I'm not sure what they could be, then I would love to hear them. On the other hand, if this was some criminal act by one individual, by all means throw the book at em'. Yes sir, if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

Photo Source: http://search.creativecommons.org/#

What's the Game Deal?!?

Alright, so we all know how much time kids spend on the internet and playing video games; why hasn't anyone developed any decent video games for the students that use them most, high schoolers?!? I go to class and I hear the younger college students talk about the new God of War video game or Medal of Honor or whatever the new fad is but I don't understand why someone hasn't come up with something that is of the same quality but actually TEACHES you something!!!

Sure, you've got your cute little math games and obviously your language arts games but how bout something a little more interesting? What wouldn't be interesting about a Lewis and Clark Expedition game? Heck, call it something else so that students don't know that they're actually learning something productive when they have to figure out a way to traverse a river, climb a mountain, or risk life and limb fighting the indigenous wildlife.

I honestly believe there could be quite a market for something like this. All I ever hear about are bloody war games or fantasy games when I enter my classes. Think of the possibilities of a historically accurate Civil War or World War II game; I can think of few things more graphic. Perhaps a Napoleonic game as you play Napoleon rising to power, having to escape Elba only to be defeated again.

Instead, we have games like THIS!!! Now what 17 year old kid is going to be interested in anything even remotely similar to these games? "Secrets of the Vatican"? Seriously!

Now, on the other hand, the History Channel has some games that have potential. They have to be downloaded onto your computer and they are huge files but there is some definite potential there. The graphics aren't bad and the sound is decent however, the controls are a bit touchy but who cares?!? If there is some educational value there, use it.

But, I digress. With all the money made on video gaming and the lack of money in the education system, especially now, I just find it difficult to understand why some big video game company isn't looking more into it. Heck, the military is using it. Check out this game developed by Rebellion and funded by the Army National Guard. It's called Prism and I bet that any kid interested in the military would love it. And of course, the militia gets more money than education does. Oops, I better digress again.

Alright everyone, it's a beautiful sunny Monday morning, you all have a tremendous day and I'll keep searching for that perfect video game to use in my classroom.

Image Source: http://search.creativecommons.org/#

More on Wiki's.

So I think everyone knows what a Wiki is don't they? Rather than defining it for you, here is the link to Wikipedia, which is probably one of the most commonly used Wiki's, much to the dismay of many educators.

Reading an article in Guide2Digital learning entitled, "Turbo Charged Wiki's: Technology Embraces Cooperative Learning," I found that there was much more involved in Wiki's than I first thought.

Now of course, you don't throw a website at your students and tell them to run with it but this article has some great points on how to get not only your Wiki started but how to get your students to positively interact and cooperate effectively with one another. What a great concept; plan before you do.

Summarizing, the article suggests that the students should be doing collaborative work before ever attempting a Wiki. Also, the project must possess two things: a authentic problem which must be solved collaboratively and the final product must be of some use to someone else, some other audience, like perhaps the rest of the class. And of course, for the Wiki to succeed, the educator must instill the five properties of collaborative learning, which as a new education student, were pretty much foreign to me, at least in writing.

Regardless, I would like to know what amazing things that you all, whomever is reading this, is doing with Wiki's. I would also love to know the major downfalls and difficulties you are having with them for I truly believe that they could have a tremendous positive impact on collaborative learning.

Image Source: WikiMedia Commons

Ten Best Ideas for your Parent Notification System

Recently, I read an article regarding parent notification systems available here. Primarily used by school administrators, the system is meant to notify parents of all sorts of information from your school lunch bill to progress reports.

While I'm sure it is a great tool for administrators, why could you not use something similar in your classroom? How about a daily blog about what you're teaching that parents can look at from anywhere? Perhaps something happened in class that was particularly interesting that parents may also find interest in. The list is numerous but consider the possibilities; parents no longer have to guess, or immediately become defensive about subject matter. They can see with a few clicks just exactly what their children are learning and perhaps become more involved. Sitting around the dinner table could bring a much more interesting conversation topic to the rest of the family. Perhaps a story they read, a video they saw, a project they are working on? Consider the reduction of phone calls and emails about what their child is learning or how they are learning. I personally believe this could be an amazing tool.

Additionally, with your school administrators approval, why not update a program like WebCT weekly with student progress reports and grades? Once again, the email chain could be greatly reduced. Parents, again with just a few clicks, can get a birds eye view on how their child is doing both academically and behaviorally. Parents can see how active their children are in discussions and participation and monitor any changes in the like. How often are parents calling or emailing about how their child is doing? Whether it be the straight A student or a student that is having a more difficult time because of family issues or just difficulty in grasping a concept, a program such as this could be invaluable to both the educator and the parent.

For more sensitive topics, a phone call or student teacher conference is still the best method of informing or collaborating with a parent. Especially when other parties are involved.

With all additional programs comes additional time. What are you willing to do as an educator to best keep your students parents up to speed on their education? These programs are meant to save time, to incorporate the parent into the equation, to give the parent the power to become active in their child's education. But it can only be accomplished with an educator that is willing to change the status quo. Is that you?

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Report_Card.jpg

Backchanneling Remarks

Recently, I have considered the pros and cons of using back-channeling within the classroom. While there is a tremendous potential for enhanced learning, I am curious as to whether the cons outweigh the pros.

Let us first consider the pros which as any of you that have used back-channeling I'm sure are already aware of.

• Promotes discussion in an otherwise quiet classroom.
• Promotes questions which otherwise may not be asked for fear of embarrassing oneself.
• Allows the student to take an active role in not only the learning of the material, but also the teaching.
• Promotes technology within the classroom rather than just the educator expecting the students to be knowledgeable in it.
• Can create a permanent log of information for students to review for later purposes.
• Allows the absent to be part of the discussion as the discussion is happening.
• Students can take their notes in the back-channel, therefore allowing a searcheable electronic set of notes for the student.
• Students can share resources such as websites or notes from the textbook to enhance the discussion.
• Students are able to vote on specific questions within the back-channel.
• Minimal set up.
  

While I'm sure there are many more uses for the back-channel, only continued research on my part or discussion from you will help me discover them all. Contrastly though and no less important are the negative or potential negative issues that arise when using a back-channel.

• Privacy CAN be an issue if the back-channel is not closed to only the class you are teaching.
• With some back channels, individuals can enter the channel from outside the class which can be a hindrance to the discussion. This however can supplement the conversation depending on the individual who has entered.
• Moderation, in my opinion, is necessary while the discussion is taking place to keep students on track, to answer difficult questions directly, and to keep inappropriate material from popping up in the discussion.
• Has limited use in a school where not every student has the means to a computer, phone, or wireless network.
• On some services, you cannot delete inappropriate material as the discussion is taking place. You must close the back-channel and delete the entire session. Once again, this requires moderation in case the educator is lecturing while the back-channel is going on.
• If you do not have a moderator, the educator must take breaks to answer questions on the back-channel which may be answered later in the lecture or to keep the discussion on track.

While many of these cons are significant, I don't think they're unmanageable. Through the use of a good private back-channel program, I think you can take care of many of the privacy issues. As for moderation, many of the students can moderate the discussion themselves with quotes from the textbook and a change in teaching style. You certainly wouldn't want to teach the same old way while a back-channel is going on because it would make the back-channel almost worthless. The back-channels are meant to enhance the degree of learning, not hinder it. The main difficulty that will come into play will be the issue of means. Not all students are afforded a computer or have a personal phone which has unlimited minutes. Not every school has wireless internet. While times are changing and schools are attempting to do all they can to resolve the technology issues, it will be our job as educators to resolve those issues as best we can. It's simply a case-by-case basis.

While there are hundreds of websites out there discussing back-channeling, these are a few that I found helpful when researching them more.

• A Classroom Back-channel Gone Wrong
• Back-channeling During a Class Viewing of Glory
• Try TodaysMeet for Back-channel Chat Without Distraction
• How To Make A Back Channel Light Up Like Clark Griswald's House
• The Backchannel by Cliff Atkinson
• Backchannel in Education - Nine Uses
  

Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvSW1ENl7Yk