When I go to class, I don’t want to sit through yet another boring lecture by a teacher droning on about a subject I already know or can easily find out on my own. Lectures in class are a thing of the past. I have so many other ways to get information on my own time that all I want is to spend class time discussing what I’ve learned and doing something about it.
In the past, educators were the gatekeepers of knowledge. By being the gatekeepers, they had ultimate control over when and how the information was delivered. Students in the same class were all taught at the same level, and if they accelerated or lagged behind, because one teacher can only perform one lecture at a time. Everyone attempts to gain some objective from the same presentation. Rarely do the students have a chance to learn at their own pace and according to their individual learning style.
Keeping the classes at the same pace made it easier for educators to teach and to grade, but not for the students to achieve. In the past, teachers didn’t have the aide of computers and other forms of technology that can serve to differentiate instruction and to address multiple learning styles in one class. They really didn’t have much of a choice but to use what was in their head, the experience they had in life, and the textbook that was given them to teach from.
Today, technology has removed the need for in-class lectures. With the invention of the computer, the internet, and digital media, students now have multiple ways to gain information. Does this mean that they no longer need teachers? They can find information, read it , and absorb it independently. The question is, do they comprehend it? Does the students’ effort actually transform the information into knowledge? This is the role of the teacher today- to guide the students through their search and their intellectual growth.
The future of education isn’t in information delivery by the teacher, but in the educator’s ability to help students to navigate through and comprehend the vast amount of knowledge they have at their fingertips. Class time should be spent discussing what they’ve learned, applying the knowledge in practical exercises, and performing tasks in labs. The information delivery can be easily made online through various avenues. Teachers can direct students to current data, deliver videos, podcasts, and news articles that are relevant to their subject as well as their everyday lives. Students can set the pace of their own learning; they can come to class prepared to ask questions when they need to and to apply their strengths to productive problem solving.
Differentiated instruction is possible now as teachers move away from being the gatekeepers of knowledge to knowledge guides, moving students toward the best path possible in achieving academic success. The challenge is for teachers to think creatively and leverage the technology available to them for the benefit of their students.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Rest, refresh and revitalize: ACTA is my time to be inspired.
(please note, I wrote this a week ago. In light of the recent disaster occurring in Alabama, my thoughts and prayers go to those affected by the tornadoes. I have many friends and I hope and pray they are all safe.)
I have to admit, I don’t go to conferences to just show off my curriculum. Since I am not an educator, my only real chance to be with educators is at conferences. Sure I have my wares, exhibit, and my booth where I show off my hard work and hope that people will appreciate it; but for as much time I spend selling, I spend more time in academic sessions. This is where I learn, where I refuel and become inspired. This is where I get a much needed perspective.
Often while working in an office, I am engulfed in day to day operations, in running the business and building the company. I don’t get out and I don’t have the proper perspective of being in the trenches. Leaving the office gets me out of that rut.
Last year I was inspired to write a paper on describing technology as an acquired language (which I hope to publish one day). At conferences I learn about the needs of the populace I serve and try to find the best solution. I attend workshops to see what they are learning and figure out ways to improve upon the methods. I am also inspired to share my expert knowledge about technology.
This year I gave a presentation at ACTA: Technology in the Classroom: Integrating Social Media and Lifting the Cell Phone Ban in Schools. Both social media and cell phones are highly controversial topics for the classroom, but they are necessary to be addressed in education. I had no idea how 100 administrators would react to such a speech.
Needless to say, I left the conference intact and the responses I got were inspirational. I really felt that I opened the eyes of many who attended to the possibility of integrating the social network and accepting cell phones in schools. I know it is an uphill battle, but change must start somewhere. I felt this was my best presentation yet and I look forward to many more to come!
This year is the best year yet. I was inspired by what I learned, revitalized by the presentations and meetings I attended and revived by the beautiful Alabama beach. I made new friends and got to know old friends in a whole new way! It was an amazing trip and I left looking forward to what next year will bring.
I have to admit, I don’t go to conferences to just show off my curriculum. Since I am not an educator, my only real chance to be with educators is at conferences. Sure I have my wares, exhibit, and my booth where I show off my hard work and hope that people will appreciate it; but for as much time I spend selling, I spend more time in academic sessions. This is where I learn, where I refuel and become inspired. This is where I get a much needed perspective.
Often while working in an office, I am engulfed in day to day operations, in running the business and building the company. I don’t get out and I don’t have the proper perspective of being in the trenches. Leaving the office gets me out of that rut.
Last year I was inspired to write a paper on describing technology as an acquired language (which I hope to publish one day). At conferences I learn about the needs of the populace I serve and try to find the best solution. I attend workshops to see what they are learning and figure out ways to improve upon the methods. I am also inspired to share my expert knowledge about technology.
This year I gave a presentation at ACTA: Technology in the Classroom: Integrating Social Media and Lifting the Cell Phone Ban in Schools. Both social media and cell phones are highly controversial topics for the classroom, but they are necessary to be addressed in education. I had no idea how 100 administrators would react to such a speech.
Needless to say, I left the conference intact and the responses I got were inspirational. I really felt that I opened the eyes of many who attended to the possibility of integrating the social network and accepting cell phones in schools. I know it is an uphill battle, but change must start somewhere. I felt this was my best presentation yet and I look forward to many more to come!
This year is the best year yet. I was inspired by what I learned, revitalized by the presentations and meetings I attended and revived by the beautiful Alabama beach. I made new friends and got to know old friends in a whole new way! It was an amazing trip and I left looking forward to what next year will bring.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Building a better e-book: moving away from cheap cop-outs
E-books are heralded as the new way for students to learn! Save trees, fix shoulder problems, reduce eye strain! I find e-books to be cheap cop-outs by publishers just repackaging the same outdated technology called textbooks into a shiny new shell. PDF versions of textbooks do not help 21st century learners any more than if they carried a 50 pound book. Sure, it’s lighter, portable, accessible anywhere, can be searched and bookmarked, but the format, layout, and linear nature of the content remains the same. Students today require more than just a textbook to thrive; they need an interactive, dynamic environment to further develop their multi-media enabled brains.
Books cater to an old method of teaching. Read, digest, regurgitate. Teaching to the test often is the result of such a practice. Teachers who create rich dynamic classrooms do not rely on the textbooks. They mix it up with other resources to help their students grasp concepts the books fail to explain. No successful teacher just uses the book, so why should publishers keep producing textbooks that happen to have an “e” in front of it.
The need for content experts to take published works to the next level is critical in our evolution of education. No longer can authors be content with words on a page with a few graphics and illustrations; they need to enhance the learning experience by keeping up with the current technology (and that doesn’t mean e-books). 20 years ago, books were the norm because that was really the only way to produce the information and have it transported to eager minds.
Rich, immersive, interactive, relevant experiences can now be produced because the technology is out there to produce them. Today the minds of the students are much more complex, even more complex than the MTV generation. The video game generation has opened their eyes to whole new worlds they can control and education needs to mimic that mindset. Our students are self initiated learners. They want to control their own education, much like controlling their characters in a video game. They understand the objective and will work their way to the goal. Books do not give them a semblance of control since their path is already chosen for them.
So why are publishers ignoring this aspect in our social development?
I feel that the fourth point really hits home. It’s more expensive to create these immersive learning environments than to just crank out a product that has been established for over a thousand years. So I leave it up to you to decide. Do we continually perpetuate this 1000 year old tradition and settle or do we demand an investment in innovation in education? We can’t afford not to innovate.
Books cater to an old method of teaching. Read, digest, regurgitate. Teaching to the test often is the result of such a practice. Teachers who create rich dynamic classrooms do not rely on the textbooks. They mix it up with other resources to help their students grasp concepts the books fail to explain. No successful teacher just uses the book, so why should publishers keep producing textbooks that happen to have an “e” in front of it.
The need for content experts to take published works to the next level is critical in our evolution of education. No longer can authors be content with words on a page with a few graphics and illustrations; they need to enhance the learning experience by keeping up with the current technology (and that doesn’t mean e-books). 20 years ago, books were the norm because that was really the only way to produce the information and have it transported to eager minds.
Rich, immersive, interactive, relevant experiences can now be produced because the technology is out there to produce them. Today the minds of the students are much more complex, even more complex than the MTV generation. The video game generation has opened their eyes to whole new worlds they can control and education needs to mimic that mindset. Our students are self initiated learners. They want to control their own education, much like controlling their characters in a video game. They understand the objective and will work their way to the goal. Books do not give them a semblance of control since their path is already chosen for them.
So why are publishers ignoring this aspect in our social development?
- The powers that be still believe in the old way of teaching because that was the way they were taught.
- Creating a learning environment that can be intelligently remixed for the learner. (Imagine a book publisher building a World of Warcraft)
- They’re lazy.
- It’s expensive.
I feel that the fourth point really hits home. It’s more expensive to create these immersive learning environments than to just crank out a product that has been established for over a thousand years. So I leave it up to you to decide. Do we continually perpetuate this 1000 year old tradition and settle or do we demand an investment in innovation in education? We can’t afford not to innovate.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
KP’s Super Random Raffle Draw Happy Fun Time: how KP created a better raffle system.
Ever participated in a raffle where all you get is a lowly ticket and wait for someone to stick their hand in a box to draw your number. The suspense is killing me as they call out each number slowly. Once the winner jumps up happy they won the prize, the moment is over. Could this age old raffle system be improved? Here at KP we did just that.
How to build a better raffle system. Normal raffles are quite boring. You get a number and you wait for a chance to get that number drawn. In some cases, you get multiple numbers, thus increasing your chances of winning but it still comes down to that one time drawing. To improve on that process, we introduce a three step process that gets more exciting at each step.
After you gather all the entries, which can consist of names, numbers or any other representation of the persons in attendance, it is entered into a database and KP’s random raffle system generator assigns them into a matrix. In the matrix, entries are randomly assigned a letter and a number and then displayed on the screen with two prompts. When a letter is drawn and keyed into the system, the list shrinks down to either 40, 24, 20, or 12 entries. An appropriate die (D6, D10, D12, D20) is tossed and the number is entered which will give us two names. The two finalists are brought up on to stage and each given a chance to call heads or tails. After whatever antics that may arise as to who calls the coin flip, the winner is determined. That’s it! Simple, fun, and exciting! Takes the normal boring raffle of just drawing a lucky name to something exciting.
But…
It wasn’t that easy, for me that is…
With the power outage and disrupting the afternoon classes, my master class I was teaching ran over time. What was suppose to conclude at 5 rand to 5:45. The teachers really wanted to know more about social media and I had to teach. The contest officially concluded at 4:00 but entries still kept coming in. I had less than 45 minutes to:
I had already lost half an hour and the awards reception had started without me. Here’s a detailed account of what I did for those who cared to know how I scrambled to build this in less than an hour.
The first step was to capture all impressions. I went online and cached all the twitter posts, saved into a text file. That took little time since I had high speed internet. I then wrote a little script that captured the usernames from each post and transferred it into a comma delimited append file. I had to monitor the script as it ran through the names for posting anomalies and error codes. I repeated the steps for facebook and had to tweak the script to account for the different posting styles and accommodate comments. Lastly, wiki was much easier since I can generate a report of who made edits and just parsed out my entries.
Some of you might ask, “why didn’t you write the code and test it out at home?” Well my answer is simple. I’m too cocky and thought I could whip it up on the spot. I had the process already keyed out in my head and it was just a matter taking what’s in my head and putting it in practice. I was overconfident and had my timetables set (except for the power failure) in my mind.
When I completed my task, rushed down to the reception with laptop in hand and set up with five minutes to spare.
The raffle went amazingly well. Everyone had fun, enjoyed the process. A newcomer to twitter with only a few posts actually made it on the final 20 board. When the list was brought down to the final two, Laura and Cameron were two perfect candidates. Laura had never tweeted before this conference and Cameron had only used it on occasion but when presented with this contest, they became twitter fanatics! They posted their experience throughout the conference, what they were doing, what classes they were taking, and expressed themselves through the digital web. It was an amazing experience to see these two and the 80 other participants use the online medium this way.
New connections were made, friendships formed and a history of their experience is forever captured online. Unfortunately, there had to be a winner. Cameron called heads and Laura agreed. Brooke, my lovely assistant from Talcott flipped the coin and it landed tails. The happy winner gets up and speaks about how she never used Twitter and that weekend she had contacted her students and asked if they would be willing to use this tool to communicate and collaborate. She got an overwhelming response.
That concludes our super raffle session. To see the video in action, see the below video link. It’s rather dark and I should have adjusted the exposure setting before heading up on stage. Oh well. The acceptance speech is amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE1kgdMYUlg
How to build a better raffle system. Normal raffles are quite boring. You get a number and you wait for a chance to get that number drawn. In some cases, you get multiple numbers, thus increasing your chances of winning but it still comes down to that one time drawing. To improve on that process, we introduce a three step process that gets more exciting at each step.
After you gather all the entries, which can consist of names, numbers or any other representation of the persons in attendance, it is entered into a database and KP’s random raffle system generator assigns them into a matrix. In the matrix, entries are randomly assigned a letter and a number and then displayed on the screen with two prompts. When a letter is drawn and keyed into the system, the list shrinks down to either 40, 24, 20, or 12 entries. An appropriate die (D6, D10, D12, D20) is tossed and the number is entered which will give us two names. The two finalists are brought up on to stage and each given a chance to call heads or tails. After whatever antics that may arise as to who calls the coin flip, the winner is determined. That’s it! Simple, fun, and exciting! Takes the normal boring raffle of just drawing a lucky name to something exciting.
But…
It wasn’t that easy, for me that is…
With the power outage and disrupting the afternoon classes, my master class I was teaching ran over time. What was suppose to conclude at 5 rand to 5:45. The teachers really wanted to know more about social media and I had to teach. The contest officially concluded at 4:00 but entries still kept coming in. I had less than 45 minutes to:
- Collect all Twitter, Facebook, and Wiki impressions.
- Build an algorithm to extract names automatically.
- Compile into a database.
- Test the interface.
- Setup during the awards reception and execute.
I had already lost half an hour and the awards reception had started without me. Here’s a detailed account of what I did for those who cared to know how I scrambled to build this in less than an hour.
The first step was to capture all impressions. I went online and cached all the twitter posts, saved into a text file. That took little time since I had high speed internet. I then wrote a little script that captured the usernames from each post and transferred it into a comma delimited append file. I had to monitor the script as it ran through the names for posting anomalies and error codes. I repeated the steps for facebook and had to tweak the script to account for the different posting styles and accommodate comments. Lastly, wiki was much easier since I can generate a report of who made edits and just parsed out my entries.
Some of you might ask, “why didn’t you write the code and test it out at home?” Well my answer is simple. I’m too cocky and thought I could whip it up on the spot. I had the process already keyed out in my head and it was just a matter taking what’s in my head and putting it in practice. I was overconfident and had my timetables set (except for the power failure) in my mind.
When I completed my task, rushed down to the reception with laptop in hand and set up with five minutes to spare.
The raffle went amazingly well. Everyone had fun, enjoyed the process. A newcomer to twitter with only a few posts actually made it on the final 20 board. When the list was brought down to the final two, Laura and Cameron were two perfect candidates. Laura had never tweeted before this conference and Cameron had only used it on occasion but when presented with this contest, they became twitter fanatics! They posted their experience throughout the conference, what they were doing, what classes they were taking, and expressed themselves through the digital web. It was an amazing experience to see these two and the 80 other participants use the online medium this way.
New connections were made, friendships formed and a history of their experience is forever captured online. Unfortunately, there had to be a winner. Cameron called heads and Laura agreed. Brooke, my lovely assistant from Talcott flipped the coin and it landed tails. The happy winner gets up and speaks about how she never used Twitter and that weekend she had contacted her students and asked if they would be willing to use this tool to communicate and collaborate. She got an overwhelming response.
That concludes our super raffle session. To see the video in action, see the below video link. It’s rather dark and I should have adjusted the exposure setting before heading up on stage. Oh well. The acceptance speech is amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE1kgdMYUlg
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tsunami videos uploaded 3/24-3/28
Here are a few new videos uploaded to you tube vetted by me. Some really crazy footage!
Crazy video of port being washed away.
This one is very interesting. You'll see a camera man in this shot. Next one you'll see him walking up slowly. This shows perspective of the famous video of town of Kesennuma being washed away from ground level. Related video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijuwl1Zw7s0
More clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_5JbVnevc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFlN_jhS-KU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD2e5KPFJ20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD_xgox67QI
More videos.
Crazy video of port being washed away.
This one is very interesting. You'll see a camera man in this shot. Next one you'll see him walking up slowly. This shows perspective of the famous video of town of Kesennuma being washed away from ground level. Related video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijuwl1Zw7s0
More clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_5JbVnevc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFlN_jhS-KU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD2e5KPFJ20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD_xgox67QI
More videos.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
3/23/11 Original Tsunami Videos from the past 48 hours: mostly original uploads.
It's been two weeks since the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami devistated northern Japan and now that people who lived in the affected regions are now getting to areas with restored power and more importantly internet (besides the bare necessities such as food shelter and water) they have gone ahead and stated uploaded the videos they captures on their cell phones.
I'm not one who is a disaster hunter but this one hits rather close to home. Makes me really appreciate the time I spent there just this past year.
I decided to put together a compilation of videos uploaded in the past 48 hours, not that you can't find them yourselvs but because I had to sift through 90% crap. What constitutes as crap uploads are
1. people filming new programs and uploading them.
2. poeople putting the word tsunami or 津波 and exploiting popular search terms.
3. people who put up fake crap to promote their business or organization.
What I was looking for was original sources uploaded from the people who shot the videos (or in some cases, friends they knew). I actually searched Japanese videos for the true source and found 95% of the videos in Japanese. I spent nearly three hours scouring YouTube so I thought that I would not let all that work go for naught. So here you are, original footage shot and uploaded by the ones who survived.
This first one was is the only one that was a capture from a news broadcast. You might have seen this one already but this is the first instance since the original broadcast where I've seen the video in it's entirety unedited. Other news sites cut out the end where you see the people standing on the rubble of a destroyed house.
This eye opening sequence was filmed at the shore where the guy realized the tsunami was coming and ran for higher ground just in time, all the while still filming.
This is a series of 9 videos taken from a sports promotion support store. The people sat by as their town gets flooded on the second floor. Be sure to watch all 9 videos showing the waters coming in and then finally receding. Here's their blog and story with pictures. http://blog.canpan.info/suport2007/
Video taken at top of mouth of river apartment. After realizing the it will hit his house, he runs in to save his dogs.
Part 1 of girl filming her town being flooded. She cries at the shock of seeing this.
Extremely dramatic crappy video of waves rushing in to town. Not original source but I couldn't' find it anywhere so this is the best I could do.
Video taken at a factory tour. Begins as water comes in, then with force causes trees to tobble against building. Later you see the entire industrial area underwater. This person has uploaded only one video.
These next three videos show waves coming in and washing a fishing port.
This one is only here because it shows how after the tsunami destroyed the port, ships out at sea came back safe and sound despite the debris and damage.
Waves crashing through tsunami wall from high up.
Another port town flooded. Very good long footage.
This last video was just of an area flooded and cars being washed away. If you look at the user, he's actually a stock car driver and has some very exciting in car videos from the past year of racing.
I hope you enjoyed these sorted out videos. I thought that my time wasted will be your time saved!
EDIT***
This is really cool. Follow this link. This person took it upon himself to go to a shelter and record video letters so that their friends and family can know they are safe!
http://www.youtube.com/user/yyokoyama504
I'm not one who is a disaster hunter but this one hits rather close to home. Makes me really appreciate the time I spent there just this past year.
I decided to put together a compilation of videos uploaded in the past 48 hours, not that you can't find them yourselvs but because I had to sift through 90% crap. What constitutes as crap uploads are
1. people filming new programs and uploading them.
2. poeople putting the word tsunami or 津波 and exploiting popular search terms.
3. people who put up fake crap to promote their business or organization.
What I was looking for was original sources uploaded from the people who shot the videos (or in some cases, friends they knew). I actually searched Japanese videos for the true source and found 95% of the videos in Japanese. I spent nearly three hours scouring YouTube so I thought that I would not let all that work go for naught. So here you are, original footage shot and uploaded by the ones who survived.
This first one was is the only one that was a capture from a news broadcast. You might have seen this one already but this is the first instance since the original broadcast where I've seen the video in it's entirety unedited. Other news sites cut out the end where you see the people standing on the rubble of a destroyed house.
This eye opening sequence was filmed at the shore where the guy realized the tsunami was coming and ran for higher ground just in time, all the while still filming.
This is a series of 9 videos taken from a sports promotion support store. The people sat by as their town gets flooded on the second floor. Be sure to watch all 9 videos showing the waters coming in and then finally receding. Here's their blog and story with pictures. http://blog.canpan.info/suport2007/
Video taken at top of mouth of river apartment. After realizing the it will hit his house, he runs in to save his dogs.
Part 1 of girl filming her town being flooded. She cries at the shock of seeing this.
Extremely dramatic crappy video of waves rushing in to town. Not original source but I couldn't' find it anywhere so this is the best I could do.
Video taken at a factory tour. Begins as water comes in, then with force causes trees to tobble against building. Later you see the entire industrial area underwater. This person has uploaded only one video.
These next three videos show waves coming in and washing a fishing port.
This one is only here because it shows how after the tsunami destroyed the port, ships out at sea came back safe and sound despite the debris and damage.
Waves crashing through tsunami wall from high up.
Another port town flooded. Very good long footage.
This last video was just of an area flooded and cars being washed away. If you look at the user, he's actually a stock car driver and has some very exciting in car videos from the past year of racing.
I hope you enjoyed these sorted out videos. I thought that my time wasted will be your time saved!
EDIT***
This is really cool. Follow this link. This person took it upon himself to go to a shelter and record video letters so that their friends and family can know they are safe!
http://www.youtube.com/user/yyokoyama504
Monday, March 14, 2011
My dumb luck working overtime to leave San Francisco before the storm: Serendipity strikes again
My dumb luck strikes again, serendipity is a good thing to me. Yesterday we avoided being stuck at the airport overnight because of my dumb luck. Normally I know my flight schedule backwards and forwards but for some reason I had thought we were flying out at 7 instead of 9:50. I have two apps on my phone reminding me of departure times and e-mail reminders but for some reason I never bothered looking at it that day. That is very strange behavior for Nai. So we hop a cab at 4:15 and head to the airport. Jon noted that it felt strange to be going when we are suppose to land after ten and Michi txt me wondering why we were going to the airport so early. I just shrugged it off and halfway to the airport I finally checked my flight app. I felt stupid for leaving so early. We could have had lunch at the brewery next door and enjoyed some craft beers for three hours before leaving San Francisco!
We could have stopped and grab lunch on the way or turned back but on the cab ride there, I looked up to see if there was a US Air lounge to hang out in for the next four hours. It would be fine to be stuck at an airport with lounge access with free food, wine and beer. I found a list where it had indicated there was one, only to later find out I had inadvertently found false information. With false information in hand, we happily get to the airport resigned to sitting for four hours in the airport lounge.
On check in, we find that we couldn’t check our bags in because we exceeded the 4 hour check-in limit. Crap, but this is where serendipity strikes. Staring blankly at the terminal saying no bags prior to four hours the Southwest attendant looks at us and says, “your flight is delayed by an hour due to the storm” (later it was delayed by almost three), then she proceeds to ask us “you’re here so early, how would you like to get on an earlier flight going through LAX, you will lose your A position but you will get in a couple hours ahead of your normally scheduled flight.” We looked at each other and said YES! So there we were, only an hour till our next flight, avoiding the coming storm and ended up getting home at 9 instead of 1 AM or even a delay overnight.
Sometimes luck has the weirdest ways of manifesting. Thank goodness for dumb luck!
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