Techlearning blog

Dear President-Elect Obama,

First of all, congratulations and good luck. I've been following the entire election and your every move on my SmartPhone (when I'm not in school) and I realize that you've got a lot going on so I'll keep this brief.

It is definitely an exciting time to be alive (as my dad keeps saying) and we are witnessing many firsts with your victory. Not to diminish any of the other historical milestones (such as race), but I am focusing this letter on the fact that you've been called the first "Technology President" and you are expected to break a long standing tradition of neo-luddism by having the first laptop to grace the desk in the Oval Office. Big, big things are being asked of you to help bring the rest of the country into the 21st Century.

I'm joining in to ask you (beg you really) to at least do one other thing: don't let them take your BlackBerry away. If you let that happen, Mr. Obama, then it's curtains for me. If the most powerful leader in the world has his cell phone taken away, then what chance do I have to ever get to use my cell phone at one of the places that I need it most: school?

As a BlackBerry user, I know you understand that cell phones are not merely phones, but actual computers. The media is having a bunch of fun right now with "crackberry" jokes and some call for you to give it up in order to stay more in touch with people. They say that cell phones do "a good job of helping us lose touch with the people around us." I know... I know... it's exactly the opposite of why you want to hang onto your BB.

I've read about the security concerns and the "Presidential Records Act" argument, but I believe that the risks has been exaggerated. I mean, come on. You're the PRESIDENT (almost)! One of the most powerful people in the world. Surely, any risks can be controlled or taken care of by the team of very smart people who you are choosing to work with you.

If you give up your BlackBerry, then I'm sorry to say it, Mr. President-Elect, but you're suddenly as disempowered as me and my friends are at our high school.

Let me paint you a picture: When I come into school each morning, before I'm even allowed to sit down, I have to put my smart phone in a box with all the other students' phones. It stays in this box all day behind some teacher's desk. The phones must be shut off before being handed over and if your phone actually goes off and rings inside the box, you will be sent to the office and given detention after school. These rules have been in place for a while and we're reminded time and time again that the safest method is to just leave our cell phones at home. Of course, nobody does, because we need our phones. (My school is by no means unique, btw; if you do a simple search on the Internet about cell phone rules in high school, you'll find plenty of schools like mine). I get that teachers want to control the phones because they are worried about kids texting to their friends instead of paying attention, or worse, using the phones to cheat on tests but I have answers to both of those concerns: 1) if kids are texting instead of paying attention, then maybe the lesson needs to be more engaging or exciting for them to pay attention to, and 2) if they're using their phones to cheat on tests, then maybe the tests need to be more challenging, asking students to synthesize information, rather than just spit back facts. I guess we need new assessments for this 21st Century. There's so much information out there and it's said to be doubling every 24 months (by the time we have our next president ---if you serve 2 terms--- it will be doubling every 72 days!) that I guess it doesn't really make sense to try and memorize a tiny bit of that for tests. If we need to remember a fact, we have our cell phones and can quickly look it up on the Internet!

I'm not sure if you've heard this or not, Mr. Obama, but there are actually teachers out there who want to use cell phones in their lessons, rather than ban them. They see them as tools for learning much like the slate, or paper, or ink, or pens, or calculators. Of course those tools didn't always have acceptance in the beginning either. Cell phones are the new "scratch paper". You know, the paper we're given to work out our problems on during a math test? One of my teacher's said we have that so that we can use it to work out the "mundane tasks" of computation so our minds can be freed up to work on the harder, "higher level" stuff.

When I'm out shopping and need to find out the best deal or I get into an argument with my friend about what year the first Macintosh was created, I just use my phone to look that stuff up so that I get onto other, better things. Why can't I do that at school? My phone is like an extra brain. It does all the dumb, simple stuff so I can work on the harder problems in life. Don't give up that extra brain, Mr. President-Elect!

Another reason why it would be terrible for me if you don't keep your BlackBerry is that it will set a bad example. Put simply: if there's ever a problem with a piece of technology at school, most of my teachers simply quit. The first glitch they run into, they throw up their hands and say it's not worth it! Which is funny, because you're guaranteed to have problems with technology! It's part of the package. You just have to take a breath and try and problem solve your way out of it. If you and your team "quit" using the BlackBerry because of the perceived problems that it may involve, then you're encouraging what I've heard people call "The Digital Divide." I know that most people mean the gap between those that have and those that don't have the technology when they say that, but there's also the Digital Divide between those that have teachers who will take risks and bring technology into the classroom and those whose teachers refuse to because of the problems that can happen. No offense, but I think that's one of the differences between your generation and mine. You were all brought up on TV where your entertainment was all built for you. My generation would rather build our own entertainment, like making videos for YouTube, or putting together a LAN party, or mashup a bunch of stuff other people made to make something new. All of that takes some serious problem solving and decision making that I just don't think you get by sitting there watching a TV show someone else made.

If you ---the PRESIDENT of the United States and one of the most POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD--- give up your technology that has served you well by helping you run a successful campaign and stay in touch with the regular people, then how will I ever convince my teacher to let us use technology in our learning?

If you give up your phone, then doesn't it say that technology is "optional" rather than necessary?

I hate to say it, but you're going to look a little silly trying to get schools to help kids get ready for the 21st Century with your BlackBerry noticeably missing from your own belt.

I trust you'll do the right thing, because after all, you've already got your Weekly Radio Addresses up on YouTube and clearly you've changed the campaign game with your use of the Internet.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog post. On your BlackBerry.

Sincerely,

Joe the Student
Class of 2009

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week, I'm re-posting an entry I made a few weeks ago at the Seedling's Ning Site after an event at the social networking site.

It's been painted over years ago, but locals still call it the "Pam I Love You Julio Bridge". Some things just never go away.

Moments ago, I banned the first member I've ever banned from the Seedlings ning. I'm not sure if other admins have also banned anyone here; this may be a first. Chances are, it won't be the last. The user came in with the moniker, brwentiger. He could very well return with a new name. Hopefully he'll tire quickly of mucking up our community and move on.

This user posted strange and not very nice messages on several member pages. It took me exactly 3 seconds to ban him/her from the ning which also deleted all the messages he/she had posted. It couldn't have been easier.

Part of having an open community like a ning is that at times SPAM will get in. Strange and "not very nice" messages will most certainly be posted at some point. Much like the "Pam I Love You Julio" message, they will deface the structure that has been built, but have no real effect on the integrity of the structure. The bridge still works whether Julio is sorry or not.

The fact is, we can count on this type of behavior at our nings and other social network environments. When it happens, there's always a slight "kick in the gut" feeling. It can't be helped. It feels invasive, even if momentarily. But just like the graffiti on the bridge, it's just an ugly and insignificant eye sore. A landmark at best, used for direction:

Take a left at the SPAM, and you'll find the good stuff.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week, my daughter was home sick, and it was my turn to stay home. My wife and I try to keep it balanced and fair with who misses work when this happens, but to be honest, she's missed a lot more than me. If you're a teacher, you'll probably side with me: it's very difficult to get a sub and to pass on the plans that you have on paper ---and even more difficult to relay the ones still in your head. Days are spent trying to catch up when one day is missed. Curriculum takes a hit. The students take a hit. Whenever I'm out, I spend an anxious day worrying about how the plans are going, worrying about how the students are doing, and wondering how I'll ever catch up. Being the computer teacher makes it trickier than when I was in the classroom because I only see each class every 6th school day. I hate, hate, HATE being out.

Still, my wife's job is important too and we try to keep it fair and balanced. It was my turn.

I was already at school by the time my daughter woke up and my wife discovered she needed to stay home. I didn't really have time to create thorough notes before my first class started, and only moments to talk to my substitute who came as soon as she got the call. I had to whip home so my wife wouldn't be late for her morning meeting.

But none of that mattered. I had all the time in the world because the minute I got home, I logged into iChat, called my sub with the audio tool and then asked her to allow me to take control of her screen back at school. I sat at my home desk and taught the entire lesson. I was able to talk to the students, hear the students, ask them questions, and show everything on the computer as if I were sitting right there with them. (This was all done using Macintosh software that comes with the computer, but similar solutions also exist for the PC.)

It was, in short, wild.

When I was finished with my direct instruction, I said goodbye to them, logged out and the substitute took over. If she or the students had any questions, they could "ring me" back up and I could be right there. I taught most of the day's lessons this way ---and in fact had no problem teaching a lesson on basic photography to my fourth graders. My sub told me later that the students were absolutely mesmerized and attentive all throughout the lessons. With the sub's assistance, I was able to take care of my daughter and deliver the lessons exactly as I had planned them. There was no worry throughout the day if the plans were getting accomplished. I knew they were because I was in constant contact with the classroom. My substitute didn't have to leave me a note because when I came back the next day I knew exactly what had happened. There wasn't anything that had to be retaught or finished with any of the classes.

Now don't get me wrong. I still hate being out. It's not better to be teaching from home but it's better than not having any contact. We didn't do this because it was cool to do. We did this because we could, it was easy, and it made perfect sense. My daughter slept most of the day. There wasn't much I had to do at home except be there. Why not keep working?

But there's another layer here as well. My students just got a taste of Distance Learning, which is good because there's going to be a whole lot more of that in their futures. According to Clayton Christensen, author of Disrupting Class, “by 2019 about 50 percent of high school courses will be delivered online (p. 98).” Christensen makes a very sound and compelling argument why this will happen with plenty of evidence to back it up. In many ways, it will happen for the same reasons that I had for doing it the other day: we can do it, it's easy, and ---for many scenarios--- it makes perfect sense. Like it or not, it's coming.

Are we ready?

Will our students have the skills necessary to be successful in distance learning courses, or will we need to start preparing them for this near-future? Will our schools have the necessary infrastructure to be ready in ten years to take advantage of these future offerings? What new skills will those of us teaching these courses need?

Will this new technology tip the "stay-home-with-the-sick-child-balance" that my wife and I have had for years in the other direction, now that she knows I can teach from home?

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My students busted me last week.

After years of telling them to NEVER use their real name, or give out any personal information on the Internet, they just discovered that both my email address and my website address include my entire name. Busted.

I explained to them why I do this: that I work with people from all over the world and they need to find the actual me --not a pseudonym me-- and that when I give my email out to people at workshops I conduct, it's just easier to give my real name. Finally, I told them that I am an adult and that when they are adults they too may need to give out their real identities. They seemed perfectly fine with all of my explanations, but I found myself thinking a lot about it, and trying to remember:

When did I switch from a pseudonym to my real identity on the web?

In the early days of the Internet, I never gave out my real name. I still have an AIM account with my alias from those early days to remind me. It looks silly when I'm talking to people who now know my name. Sure, I did it for safety, but I think there was also an element of this false belief that the Internet was separate from my "real life". I don't think I was alone in this. In those early days many of us just read, or surfed, or browsed, or played on the Internet, but very few of us worked on the Internet. This was pre-Web 2.0, so very few of us contributed to the Internet.

Last week I was at the ACTEM Conference in Maine and got to hear Sheryl Nussbaun-Beach deliver an amazing Keynote (you can hear it here). There was something she said that really caught my attention. She was talking about asking administrators if they "Googled" people before hiring them as part of their background check. Most of the people she asked said that they in fact did. Sheryl went on to ask them:

If it's true that you're going to Google people and it's going to impact your decision to hire or not hire... then what are you doing to prepare your students to be Googled?

What are you doing to make sure that they're "clickable"? ... This is going to become more and more important. If you're not helping them to connect, if you're not helping them to create, if you're not helping them to be producers of knowledge rather than consumers of knowledge... then you're not preparing them for that vita that they're going to need, for that résumé that they're going to need in order to be hired in the future.

Surely I need to teach my students to stay safe on the Internet, and that mostly translates into the message of staying anonymous on the Internet. But am I also preparing them for a time when they will most likely need an authentic presence on the web? Does my direction for them to stay incognito add to the illusion that the web is still a separate place from "real life"?

At ACTEM I also got the chance to see Liz Davis speak. If you go to Liz's site, you'll see a picture of her in a hat with sunglasses on. This is her picture that she uses on Twitter as well. When I first met Liz in "real life" I didn't recognize her until we were introduced because the photo makes it difficult to identify her. During Liz's presentation, she talked about this picture and that it is rather funny that it's become her identity because she hardly ever wears a hat. She acknowledged that when she chose the picture as her image, it was in her early days of her social networking, possibly illustrating her desire for remaining private. As her social networks have grown and she has become more involved in them, this has evolved to wanting to be more transparent. She's thought about changing her photo but at this point, it may be too late. These images/avatars that we choose to be representations of ourselves become sort of like a "logo" or symbol that is easily recognized in whatever forum we are in. In my Twitter feed, even though the image is very tiny, I can tell when Liz says something. I recognize her logo. Her hat, her sunglasses. If she changes that, might I miss some of what she has to say?

I find all of this fasinating and fodder for thought and conversation. I really have no answers yet to the questions I've asked, but hope to hear your thoughts. You can twitter me at: http://twitter.com/bobsprankle or leave me comments in my blog.

At what point did your "online life" become one and the same with your "real life"? When did you switch from pseudonym to real name on the web? What should we tell the students? At what age do we tell them to stop hiding?

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My second graders hit the "wow" factor this week: I started working with Google Earth with them. Class after class... "Wow..."

I started the lesson by first taking them to Google maps. Many of them have seen their parents use the tool to get driving directions. When I turned on the satellite images, they perked up. When I took them to the "Street View" they became very focused. When I finally opened up Google Earth and "flew" them to NY City (complete with 3D buildings) and then to the Grand Canyon (brought to life with the "terrain" overlay), then I got the "Wows..." Not exclamatory, but quiet amazement. And I'm right there with them. Wow...

The world isn't really flat, and neither should maps be. Globes are an improvement and definitely decorative, but nothing can compare with the experience that Google Earth offers. Spinning the world around, zooming in, flying from Destination A to Destination B brings an engagement and attachment that I never experienced as a kid with maps.

There's a "Friends" show (American) where the character Joey is having trouble reading a map of London. He solves the problem by "stepping into the map" (quite literally) and this makes all the difference for him. I guess we'd say that Joey is a kinesthetic learner. Google Earth allows students to not only "step into the map" but also to see actual cars and buildings and license plates (in Street View). Students fly off to Disney World just by typing it into the search and dropping down to where they can see the Epcot Center. They screech in delight because they recognize the building ("I've been there!"). They turn on hundreds of overlays to interpret the world from different angles/topics: pollution, news, health, weather, population, etc.

Google Earth is a better tool than a traditional globe or map for the "Joeys" in our 21st Century classroom. Perhaps we will call them "digital kinesthetic learners" (those that learn/understand better in a virtual space, such as a video game), but clearly, Google Earth will benefit all learners as it helps us to realize and understand our world in ways never before possible.

And... when was the last time you heard a student say "Wow..." over a traditional globe? It looks kind of silly over there in the corner, collecting dust, while students huddle around the computer manipulating, constructing, interpreting, designing, "mashing", customizing, navigating, and dissecting with this new "globe."

Oh yeah... and don't forget the flying.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a follow-up to my last posting, I thought I'd tell you some of what I've learned from asking my students in Grades 1 through 4 what they've "upgraded" over the summer:

1. There's a lot more Wiis and Xboxes out there and some are hooking up to the Internet.


2. Many more students are connecting to social networks geared towards kids, like Webkinz, Club Penguins, RuneScape.


3. Students made me aware that Club Penguin is now allowing kids to type in their own messages (rather than pre-canned sentences). This is the first year I've heard of students as young as first graders entering "chat" environments.


4. More students are getting their own email.


5. More computers are able to access the Internet from my students' homes.


6. I actually have one first grader who said he plays World of Warcraft. He was knowledgeable enough in the game to convince me that he really does.

1. Always tell an adult.


2. Never meet anyone in person that you met on the Internet


3. Never give out personal information.

We've been mostly using 2 great sites to teach our students Internet Safety: Cybersmart! and Netsmartz. Both sites offer excellent resources starting at Kindergarten, all the way up to the higher grades. I'm happy to see that the Netsmartz Kids site (the one for the younger kids) has updated their site to now include "Club UYN!" ("use your netsmartz!") which will offer fresh games, activities and videos each month. This constant "refresh" will hopefully keep my students returning to the site from their home computers and keep Internet Safety issues present in their thinking and home discussions.

What are some other resources out there that you're using to teach Internet Safety? You can twitter me at "bobsprankle" or let me know at my Blog.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm writing this entry after the first day back at school from summer vacation (here in the USA). Only staff is here at school this week; students start next week. It's been a very busy day with barely enough time for the "hellos" and "hugs" and "How was your summer?" queries. Great to see everyone. Great to catch up. Next week will be even more enjoyable as 500+ students file past me in the halls and I hear all about their adventures and journeys from the summer months. Being a technology teacher, I also get treated to hearing about all the new technology that's come into their lives. This always comes in two big waves: after the Summer hiatus and after Winter Holiday break. I get to witness some of the tipping points with technology adoption this way, as when 2 years ago, I heard about a huge influx of iPods in holiday stockings.

I was reflecting on how much things have been changing in such a short time when I posted a TED video featuring Kevin Kelly on the Next 5,000 days of the Internet on my blog a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to show this to students. I'll ask them to predict how the Internet will evolve in the next 5,000 days... in the next year... in the next week. It's all moving at lightning speed. It's amazing to see the changes in how I can watch the Democratic Convention on the Internet compared to 4 years ago. When Obama spoke back in 2004, I watched him in low quality video the size of a postcard. Now I'll watch him in High Definition video streaming directly from the convention (not a television station's stream) at full screen and even choose which camera shot I want to view. The video quality is so stunning that I confess I sometimes miss what's being said as I stare in disbelief, scanning the image for any degradation, unable to find any flaws. Why would I ever want to watch the convention on regular TV when it looks this beautiful and isn't interrupted by commercials on my computer?

So... here come our students after having spent 2 and a half months away from us. How many will return with iPod Touches? What will that mean? It's not the same as when my students returned with iPods because... let's face it: these are actual computers in their pockets. How many will return with brand new MySpace accounts? How many will have put a fresh coat of paint on their existing MySpace accounts... perhaps with a more "mature" appearance? What new Web 2.0 tools will our students arrive with that we haven't even heard about? What new skills will students arrive with? What have they been doing on the computer all summer?

As educators we need to make time for these questions when they come back if we're to keep up, but more importantly, to show that we're interested and involved with their digital lives.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My daughter and I were walking our new puppy the other day and talking about learning. I happened to say, "I'm a visual learner." To which she replied without missing a beat: "I think I learn best by listening." I stopped in my tracks. The dog looked up at us, expectantly and listening attentively when I said to my daughter that this was an amazing conversation that we were having. Amazing because I never had a conversation like this when I was her age (10) and in fact didn't even wonder what type of learner I was until the late '90s when I became aware of such consideration due to my graduate coursework on the path to getting my Masters in Education. Yet here was my ten-year-old daughter who had already identified her strongest learning style before the fifth grade. People talk about these things now. She's heard it from her teachers. She's heard it from her mother and me. She's heard it from other people. I don't think it's a topic that comes up for her simply because her father is an educator. I could be wrong, but I think it's something we hear and talk about these days.

The reason we were talking about learning styles was because of the puppy training we had been doing. Or rather: the human training we were doing for the puppy. I've become convinced that the best thing for a new puppy is to train the humans to do the correct things ---namely, to "Be the Pack Leader"--- in order to have a well-behaved dog. Together, my daughter and I had learned this by listening to Cesar Millan's audiobook ---Be the Pack Leader--- before we got the dog. We decided on the audio version of the book so that we both could enjoy it while driving around during our summer months when both of us had vacation time. Meanwhile, my wife (who continues to work full time during the summer) chose to learn from Cesar with the printed version.

To be honest, audiotapes can be difficult for me. My mind tends to wander when listening to them. I am much more focused learning with text and I love the added advantage of being able to underline important parts. This strikes me as rather funny since much of the professional development I do these days comes in the form of audio as I listen to podcasts and audiobooks in my car. Perhaps I'm getting stronger with this modality of learning, but I still would rather read text than listen to it being read.

However, watching is still my preferred method when learning a new method or tool. I know this is the easiest way for me to learn new software, for instance. I can watch a 2-minute video and understand immediately what to do with a program where it would take me numerous readings of written instructions to learn the same thing.

Clearly, I had learned a great deal by listening to Cesar Millan's book. But when my daughter and I rented DVDs of his Dog Whisperer show, that's when it finally all clicked for me. The moment I was able to see this professional doing the right things with dogs, a transformation happened for me. The learning was no longer in the abstract but was now absolutely internalized.

Currently, I am halfway through an amazing book that I highly recommend: Disrupting Class: How Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns by Clayton Christensen, et. al. As I'm only halfway through it, I'll hold off giving a complete reflection, but instead will focus on one of the well-crafted arguments made at the beginning of the book, best summed up by this question:

"If we agree that we learn differently and that students need customized pathways to learn, why do schools standardize the way they teach and the way they test?" (p. 29)

Christensen has a solution for this dilemma and a clearly articulated argument for how learning will become truly "student-centric," but as mentioned above, I'll refrain from a complete reflection until a later time. And where will that reflection take place? Most probably here on my blog. Obviously one of the multiple intelligences that I utilize often is the Intrapersonal Intelligence. It's clearly another way that I learn: by conducting self-reflection in a forum that invites conversation.

It is a starkly exposing venture to reflect on learning in an open setting like a blog and it's taken me some time to gain the level of comfort with it that I have. That comfort level fluctuates and there are times when it still takes great courage to push the "publish" button. I always do end up pushing it because "learning is messy" and the benefits that blogging has afforded me significantly outweigh the negatives. But--- just as everyone does not want to own a dog, not everyone wants to blog and as a teacher I can't offer blogging as the only method of self-reflection for my students. Perhaps, because it is indicative of one of my own intelligences, I should heed Christensen's point and offer it last in a list of other options; options that are completely outside of my favored intelligences.

Cesar Millan is obviously strong in the Naturalist Intelligence. My daughter has already identified that she is strong with Linguistic Intelligence through her writing and listening skills. I am strongest in Spatial Intelligence as my penchant for learning by video tutorials demonstrates.

Imagine if we were all in the same classroom together. Would we each have an equal chance to learn the same material?

Do my students?

Do yours?

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been writing and talking a lot about Wordle lately and thought I would continue blathering about it here at TechLearning as well. It is a really simple tool that does one thing: takes some text and creates a "word cloud" by analyzing usage and frequency of words. The site calls it "a toy" but educators (myself included) have started to see it as a great little tool to spark reflection, discussion, analysis, and even a great way to make t-shirts!

I took a Wordle shot of the top 300 words I've used in my blog entries here at TechLearning (click image to see it larger):

I can analyze this image until my heart's content. I can take personal pride in realizing that I'm mostly writing about "students" and reproach myself on writing too much about "Twitter." I could use this cloud to decide what to write on next, what to delve into more deeply, what to give a rest. I could use the words to construct questions for further research or statements of my pedagogical beliefs. I could present it to others in a Rorschach-type game and ask what patterns they see. And finally... I guess I could make a t-shirt out of it.

Wordle is such a bare-bones simple tool, that part of me wonders why we're writing about it at all. It's on the level of praising the benefits of duct tape or Kleenex. It's just not that remarkable. What I think we're really writing about is not the tool at all, but the ability to analyze our writing and ideas in this new, focused ---even artistic--- way that invites abstract interpretation. I've never looked at my writing in this way before and I must admit, I find it rather fasinating; taking the writing process in reverse, reducing my words to a refined assemblage of my main ideas, my central thoughts, my main passions.

This is me in concentrated-formula form. Just add water.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week, I'm at the Building Learning Communities Conference put on by the Alan November group. I attended last year, and it was by far the best conference I've ever been to. This year is already shaping up to be of the same caliber.

I'd like to invite you to join us this week by heading over to my blog, "Bit by Bit" where I'll be posting any podcasts that I record at the conference. It may take me a few days to get the podcasts posted, but I'll keep adding them as quickly as I can and whenever I can get bandwith here (in the lobby). Already I've been able to post 2 shows: Ewan McIntosh's Keynote and Alan November's presentation on Web Literacy (both amazing!). You can also follow my constant updates on my "mobile blog," called "Bob Sprankle's Scratch Pad."

The easiest way to "join" the conference is to search out posts (and podcasts and ustreams and wikis and many other offerings) by many people who are physically attending by searching for the tag that has been agreed upon. Tags are ways that people can flag others down to their posts or resources that then can be searched by a tool such as Technorati. To get you started, here is the result page of the search of the tags everyone is using at the conference: BLC08. Though we hope for establishing one agreed upon tag, there are always derivations, and you may find more posts under "blc2008," or perhaps simply "blc."

Also, here is a great NetVibes page put togethter by David Truss that captures many feeds connected to the conference.

Try to find other BLC08 treasures and add them in the comment section of my Bit by Bit blog to share with others. Thank you in advance, and enjoy the conference!

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things you can count on in life: death, taxes, and your computer will fail.

As a computer teacher, my lessons rely on 23 boxes that need to work for most of my objectives to be met. As part of my job, I keep the computers in good working order ---it's something that I can control. But I am always at the mercy of a working Internet connection ---something I never have control over.

Solution: I always have a backup.

A couple of weeks ago, the students and I weren't able to connect to a site that we needed for the lesson I had prepared on "Communicating Ideas." We tried several times, and then I decided to just "punt" and use one of the links that I have at the ready in my "Link of the Week" section on our website. These links are primarily geared for students to use at home, but at times, we visit them during class as well.

The link I chose to substitute the lesson with was an addition/subtraction game over at Arcademic Skills Builders. The kids went absolutely wild over the game, and I've never seen students so excited about addition and subtraction. The reason was clearly because they learned how to "host" their own games and race their "jet skis" against other students in the same room. The skills of being able to login, set up a game, and create or access a password is an entire lesson in itself. Quickly, I realized that the substitution was so much better than the lesson I had planned, or at least was a lesson that I needed to include in the curriculum rather than just providing the link as an add-on.

In short, I was thankful the original site didn't work and even when it came back 5 minutes later, I ditched it.

In March, Pete Riley wrote an entry at District Administration Magazine called Teacher Dropouts. It highlights the top reasons why teachers leave the profession, based on survey data where ex-teachers compared their new private industry jobs to their previous teaching jobs. The top difference between both jobs cited was Autonomy.

In ditching the planned lesson in the lab the other day, I did what I had to do. It made sense and I'm sure any administrator visiting my room to see how my lesson was going would understand that this was the smart decision, that I couldn't do anything about the failed connection to the site included in my lesson. I probably would even be congratulated for my "smart thinking" or for having a backup plan.

In this climate of high-stakes, standards-based curriculum and assessment, I wonder how many classroom teachers have this same opportunity for autonomy that I had in the lab the other day. How many of us are allowed to "go off script" ---for whatever reason the teacher deems necessary?

In working with a classroom full of human beings, complicated and multifaceted as individuals and even more so as a group, there are constantly reasons to "ditch the best laid plans" and seek alternative and "on-the-fly" solutions. I won't even try to compile a short list of reasons here because it's probably futile to give any of the issues any more prestige than the other infinite things that can occur in a classroom which may demand a chucking of the prepared lesson.

This is what the teacher's first responsibility is: attending to the needs of the students at the moment. Like a ship's captain, she must be on the lookout for icebergs and reefs and veer off course when needed.

I wonder how many teachers are still afforded this liberty. Are you allowed to chart your own course when necessary, or are you to stay true to the fixed and unwavering course? I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback, which you can leave at my blog if you're unable to leave comments here at TechLearning.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'd like to take the opportunity this week to direct you to an outstanding paper by Rima Shore, Ph.D from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. It's called, "The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media & Our Nation's Future." This paper tackles "Three Challenges for the Coming Decade."

One of the refreshing things about the paper and the research that is being carried out by the Center is that it is focusing on Elementary grade students, acknowledging that there has been a deficit in literature and study for this age level.

The 3 challenges put forth in the paper are: 1) The Call for Coherent Research and Development, 2) Rethink Literacy and Learning for the Digital Age, and 3) Advance Digital Equity, Reaching All Children with Today's Most Powerful Learning Tools. While all three challenges have equal importance, the last 2 have particular relevance to classroom teachers.

In "Rethinking Literacy and Learning for the Digital Age," the paper clearly identifies the most important areas for teachers to expand the literacy curriculum in order to prepare students with skills for their futures. They include: Using digital tools effectively and safely; Think critically; Understanding complex systems; Know about other countries and cultures; Participate in collaborative learning communities; Invent, create, and design ---alone and with others; and Find wholeness in a "remix" world.

This expansion is a necessity and is further argued in the 3rd challenge of "Advancing Digital Equity." This equity problem has mostly been articulated as those with the technology and those without, but it goes much farther than that: the paper argues that this also means the discrepancy between students who are having these skills "scaffolded" with support from adults and those that don't. Rather than just allowing students to "have at" the technology, we need to be assisting, coaching, guiding. The amount of technology is not as important as support and input from adults.

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Shore, Ph.D., Rima. "The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media & Our Nation's Future." (2008):

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I get a kick out of my Twitter stats (produced by TweetStats):

I could interpret this graph in many ways, but one thing is certain: this past year, I've Twittered (meaning actually contributing to "micro-blogging") more in the summer than during the school year. This comes as no surprise to me. There are a lot other things that I do more in the summer. I imagine this same graph could be used to illustrate how often I go swimming, how many podcasts I get accomplished, how many movies I watch, how many books I read, how late I stay up, how much ice cream I eat...

I think I could also apply this visual to one of the most important activities of my summer time: revision. Though I constantly edit my lessons throughout the year, nothing affords a complete reexamination or rebuilding as the summer break does. Much like turning over the soil in the garden and being able to add in rich fertilizer and compost, I can "rototill" my curriculum with this gift of time--- toss out things that are no longer working to make room for new ideas and make existing successes even more formidable.

In the United States, we're heading into our summer break and across the blogosphere, I see folks talking about the professional development that they'll be undertaking. Books, conferences, projects... people are planning how to reexamine, revise, rip-apart, rebuild, refresh... I used to believe in a year-long school calendar--- mostly to support students by not interrupting the learning process. I confess, I've changed over the years. I feel incredibly fortunate to be given this break to work on the craft of my profession out of the daily business of actually carrying out the task.

I've got several week-long tech courses to start my summer off and I'm also looking forward to the Building Learning Communities Conference where I'll chat late into the night--- face2face--- with many other educators from around the world. Together we'll share strategies, challenge each other's ideas, dissect and review our years, examine where we've come from and where we are heading. I can't wait. I'm sure I'll have a lot to report on Twitter (http://twitter.com/bobsprankle).

What's on your plate this summer? What do you have planned to refuel and rebuild? I'd love to hear your plans here in the comments, or back at my blog.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)