Imagine!!

I wrote an article today about the importance of teachers teaching students how to use technology for disciplinary purposes. I want to share several paragraphs from this article here:

Imagine a Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep in 1990 and woke up today. Consider the new vocabulary terms that have entered our parlance in the last seventeen years: Internet, Web, Virus, Google, etc. Certainly Rip would understand web, a spider web. He’d understand virus, an illness that affects an individual. Assuming that Rip was not an advanced technologist when he went to sleep, he would have no idea what the word Internet meant. Even if he was the most advanced technologist in history, he’d be clueless about Google. Mr. Van Winkle would have to figure out a way to acculturate himself into the present day, a day very different than the one in which he went to sleep. Incredibly, Van Winkle only went to sleep seventeen years ago. So much has changed.

In seventeen years, it will be 2024. The child who begins kindergarten in September will just be graduating from college. If technologists and futurists are correct, change will happen much faster in the next seventeen years than it has happened in the last seventeen. Imagine a world in which people no longer have to use keyboards, mice, and stylists to manipulate their computer. Imagine a world in which children can play with different species of fish, actually feeling the textures of the fish, without getting wet. Imagine a world in which students can scale the top of Mount Everest without ever leaving their classroom. Of course, only the most fit students will make it to the top. Imagine!!

That’s just the point, we have to imagine. We don’t know what the future will look like. We can’t know what knowledge four year old Jessica will need when she graduates from college to succeed in the workforce. Even when Jessica graduates from college she won’t know what she’ll need to succeed in her third and fourth job. Karl Fisch's Did You Know was very influential in this writing.

Steve Jobs Quote

Steve Jobs told Walt Mossberg today that he's received countless letters from people telling him that ITUnes is their favorite application on Windows. He said, "It's like giving a glass of water to somebody in hell." Interesting comparison!!

A Dissertation on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

I think that I've decided I'm going to write my dissertation on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). (Actually I'm hoping to write my dissertation since I began the doctoral program in 1998 and have long passed the eight year deadline to finish the dissertation. I've already reapplied for admittance. If this is granted, I need to apply for an extension of doctoral studies.) Last Friday I had a meeting with Professor Punya Mishra at Michigan State University, where I began my doctoral work in 1998. He suggested that I develop a set of professional development workshops to help teachers think about using the TPCK paradigm for thinking about technology integration. I thought that that the idea was good.

Last weekend I began to develop a conception of a professional development workshop. I originally thought that I'd work with teachers who knew little about technology. I'd first encourage them to become aware of the various resources available on Web 2.0 and learn to use them for their own purposes. (For example, after a summer vacation, teachers can upload digital photographs to flickr and share them with others. Teachers could begin to use blogs for writing about their professional practice and encourage others to respond to their thoughts.) Wang (2000) writes that a learning process incorporates three distinct periods: A. familiarization; B. Utilization; and, C. Integration. McNamara and Pedigo (1995) describe a similar three step learning process: A. awareness level; B. development of skills level; and C. application level. Obviously teachers cannot integrate technology into their curriculum if they don't know what technology exists.

As I further thought about this learning process, I figured maybe I can start the professional development process, for the purpose of my dissertation with individuals who are already familiar with technology but do not yet have an understanding of TPCK. The real reason that I want to do this is because it would help to constrain my research. In other words, it will allow me to finish my dissertation in less time. If I'm going to do this, the real question is what process should I utilize to help teachers develop an understanding of TPCK? I'm going to explore this question further in a future blog entry.

Parenthetically, some educational thinkers argue that students, digital natives, can teach their teachers how to use educational technology. To me, this concept rings true to a limited extent. If students know how to use technology they can certainly help their teachers learn how to use it. But, as the TPCK framework indicates, it's not enough for teachers to know how technology works. Teachers must know A. how specific content areas take advantage of technology in order to extend the knowledge bases of the content area; and, B. how to best help students learn how to use technology so that they can develop a deeper understanding of the content field. (Many students know how to play virtual games. They can learn a great deal through many high quality games. But unless games are designed to teach the substantive and syntactic structures of a discipline, students are not going to learn these distinct knowledge basis from playing the game.)

Adams, Karen I. and Pamela Petty. Preparing Teachers for the Challenge of Teaching and Learning with Technology: Standards, Strategies and Statistics. 30 May 2007 <http://www.nesinc.com/PDFs/2003_06Adams.pdf>.

McNamara, S., & Pedigo, M. L. (1995). Development of an individualized computer
training model for classroom teachers. (ERIC Document Reproduction
Service No. ED384596).

Wang, Y. (2000). Training teachers using computers: A process of familiarization,
utilization, and integration. The Journal: Technological Horizons in Education,
27(10), 66–72.

New Video Camera

I bought a new video camera on Monday. I'm really excited to post my first video. Yes, it's very silly. My friends kids made it. But this means that I can now make videos.

Tags

The other day I was wondering what educational benefit tags might have. In what ways would learning about tags and learning to use tags benefit students.

Here's one thought: When I was in school we learned about animals and the kingdoms, species and whatever else (I'm not a science person and I definitely don't remember all of the terms) they belonged to. But there would be no reason that students could not labels animals with tags according to the different groups to which they belong. Teachers might want to use specific tags unique for their classroom, so for example I might use the tag ap01001 (and then fill in whatever the real tag would be.) When doing this students would only have objects identified by other students in the class come up when they looked for specific tags. To simply pull up everything with the label giraffe would pull up way too much at times. At other times that might be very useful. At still other times teachers could collaboratively develop tag terms so that items classified by a few classes would come up. Even better, students could collaboratively develop tag codes. Indeed, rather than telling students how to label animals teachers could ask them to develop their own labeling system.

Students in a history class could use tagging to align different themes with different chronological eras. Obviously the same theme would be used multiple times. In a geography class different geographical characteristics could be aligned with different places. Such activities could definitely help students develop deeper understandings of the world.

As I sit here right now, I'm just beginning to think about how categorizing with labels in this way would be particularly useful for students. I'm very confident that it would be. For example, categorizing might provide students with an ability to develop complicated schematic systems. Such systems would enable them to think in complicated ways about the world in which they live.

As the writing here likely demonstrates I'm at the very beginning stages of thinking about how tagging could benefit teaching and learning in the classroom. But, I think this kind of a discussion is worth having. For, I'd like to think that these are the kinds of discussions that will align the widgets of Web 2.0 with disciplinary objectives. These are the kinds of discussions that will hopefully enable teachers to help students use Web 2.0 to learn to think at ever complicated levels.

Technorati Tags: Andrew Pass education Classroom 2.0 TPCK tags

Let's Go Scratch

Yesterday Will Richardson wrote about a new program called "Scratch." The program allows epople to do some scripting and it's pretty cool. Well I was excited about the program when I read about it on Will's blog. So last night I showed my friend's eleven year old son, Michael.

When I first saw the program I struggled with it for a few minutes, realized that I had other things to be doing and so decided to come back later. Michael, on the other hand, saw the program and wasted no time. He seemed to know what to do by instinct. As I watched him figure out the program I realized "Digital Native." I really wish that I had been taping him. Because it was truly an enlightening moment for me. Michael and I just approach technology in different ways. He knows what to do by instinct. I have to figure out what to do.

Ok, so at one point Michael did not know how to do something, so he wanted to look at help. I gave him my phone (a modem) so he could get online. But he was too busy to use it. He said, I'll get online and find out the information when I need it. I have no idea what time Michael got online because I took a nap. But I do know that later when I woke up he was playing pool. (No, you really do have to stop thinking like an immigrant. Not on the pool table, but on the computer.) I realized what a great activity for learning about angles.

When I was a kid I used to sit in front of the television set. Michael still does sit in front of the TV but that's not enough for him. He's also got to be thinking. It sure is interesting to watch him think.

Authority, Relevance or Both

I recently submitted the following article to TechLearning's Educators' Ezine.
-----------------
I write and publish a daily newsletter designed to promote discussion of current events in the classroom. Several months ago a district administrator asked how he could trust the quality of the newsletter since he had not previewed it. Obviously it would be impossible to preview the newsletter before purchasing a subscription. In order for it to remain relevant the newsletter must be written each day and distributed immediately. After all, it’s a current events newsletter.

The administrator’s question prompted me to think. In asking schools to purchase subscriptions up front, I am asking them to do something to which they are not accustomed. When districts purchase textbooks they first complete a formal review process, in which they preview a number of books. Many states only permit districts to purchase books from an approved list. This textbook review process often takes a year or longer. This review process helps to ensure that the final selection is authoritative. Certainly educators don’t want to provide their students with mis-information.

As Karl Fisch’s “Shift Happens,” contends, we live in exponential times. Knowledge in science and technology doubles ever two years. The affairs of the world, information covered in social studies classes, also change rapidly. Given the speed at which knowledge evolves, many textbooks are outdated before they even reach the classroom. A quick perusal of several leading textbook companies’ science textbooks revealed that nearly all of them were written in 2006 and earlier. These textbooks continue to describe Pluto as the ninth planet. The information contained within them might have been authoritative at one time, but the books are no longer relevant.

Textbooks and textbook review committees cannot keep up with the speed of knowledge change. When I wrote the district administrator back, I asked him if he thought that his successor would ever sit on a traditional textbook review committee. If schools are to remain relevant, my suspicion is that by 2015, if not sooner, textbooks and textbook review committees will become relics of the past.

So how will schools select the information resources that replace textbooks? How will they ensure that the information their students encounter is not only relevant, but also authoritative.

Consider the way that individuals purchase newspaper subscriptions. Obviously nobody can know what will appear in a newspaper when they order their subscription. Consumers purchase newspapers with an expectation that quality and style will remain consistent over time. When people purchase subscriptions to the New York Times they don’t think about specific stories that the paper will run. Instead they assume that the paper will continue to run articles about major events that have the potential to influence the entire country and/or world. They recognize that the writing is often at a higher level than many other newspapers. But, hopefully they also recognize that the newspaper is not a perfect source of information.

Though relevant, New York Times’ articles are not authoritative. Few high school teachers would allow students to submit research papers that only cited the New York Times as a reference. The case of Jason Blair, the New York Times reporter fired for erroneous reporting in May 2003, proves that not everything written in the newspaper is correct. While Blair blatantly disregarded the protocols of newspaper reporting, innocent reporting mistakes are made on a regular basis. While relevant and timely, New York Times’ articles are simply not authoritative.

While few high school teachers would allow students to submit research papers that only cited the New York Times, many high school teachers would allow students to cite the Times as one of several sources. These teachers would likely want their students to triangulate their information. In other words, they would want their students to demonstrate the authority of information in one source by supporting it with relevant information from other sources, information that can be found in any one of hundreds of places on the Internet.

The process of information triangulation reduces the importance of any single source of information. For every source is checked against other sources. Perhaps I should have told the district administrator that while I could vouch for the relevance of the newsletter, I could not guarantee the accuracy and quality of every newsletter. Perhaps I should have told him that his teachers and students should judge the accuracy for themselves by triangulating the information in the newsletter with other relevant information. Triangulation alone provides an opportunity for both relevance and authority.

An Incredible History Resource

I just found an incredible resource for world history teachers called "Students' Friend." It's written by a history teacher, Mike Maxwell. The website really provides an entire world history course (or two, depending on how you use the material. Take a look at it here!!

My Student My Friend

This past Sunday was the last day of religious school. I've worked with the same class for two years and have grown rather close to the students. But on Sunday morning I almost started crying in front of the class.

I was telling my students that I've really enjoyed working with them. I explained that during my first year of teaching I had a particularly good class. During the second year one day I asked the principal if he thought that I'd ever have a class that I'd bond with as well as the class I had the previous year. He responded, only if you let it happen. This past Sunday I told my students that it had happened.

Then it hit me. As I looked out over the kids who I have grown to love over the last two years, I couldn't help but see one of the students who was in my first class. His name was George Roffman. He and I were particularly close. Sometimes, as a sixth grader, George was a bit clingy. But he was one of the funniest and most intelligent students with whom I ever worked. He and I became friends. Occasionally, we'd have lunch and/or play basketball. His parents invited me over to their home on more than a few occasions. George and I kept in touch for years after he was my student. I moved away the year that George started high school. But we wrote letters and then emailed. When George was 20 years old, a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis, he became sick. People did not know what it was at first, but it was brain cancer. The cancer could not be cured and he died several days after being diagnosed. I think of George occasionally and miss him and his laugh.

Well Sunday as I was telling my students how much I enjoyed teaching them, all of the sudden I thought of George and I had a horrible thought. George is not the only person to die young. I obviously didn't say anything to my students about George. But I did tell them that I hope they will take advantage of every day of life. I could feel the tears coming. Fortunately the tears never got there because what would I have said to a group of fifth graders?

I can only hope that the students who I've taught the last two years recognize the opportunities that they will encounter every day.

Sources of Information on Educational Technology

I'm curious as to how teachers think about using technology in their teaching.

What questions do teachers ask themselves in deciding how to use technology?

What kinds of choices do teachers make when using technology in their classroom?

If teachers who use technology a lot could give one bit of advice to teachers new to technology what advice would they give?

Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge

In 1986 Lee Shulman published an article entitled "Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching." In this article Shulman coined the term Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). According to this author PCK is one domain of the knowledge that a teacher must have to effectively educate students. PCK provides teachers with an understanding of how to most effectively bridge the relationship between students and specific content so that students develop a deep understanding of it. In order to do this, teachers must possess an understandng of preconceptions and misconceptions that students bring to the table. They must have a repertoire of examples and resources which they can employ to help students think about material under study. Teachers must know how to introduce the teaching of subjects and how to conclude specific teaching. Every discipline and every component of every discipline has particular PCK associated with it.

Recently, I've been thinking about teaching with technology. Research has demonstrated that it's not enough to simply put technology in front of students. (Although actually I wonder if sometimes simply putting well developed technological tools in front of students will enable them to sometimes develop deeper understandings of content.) Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler, two professors at Michigan State University, argue that there is something called Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). Teachers must possess specific knowledge and skills as to how to most effectivley use technology to teach specific content if technology is going to make the greatest impact. What I wonder is what type of specific knowledge and skills do teachers need to do this. What are the components of TPCK?

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A new framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.

Shulman, L. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.

Senator Carl Levin

Senator Levin is a very popular man in Michigan. He's well respected by a vast majority of the people in the State. Last year Time magazine rated him as one of the ten best senators. As I wrote about the other day, I heard Senator Levin speak at my synagogue this past Friday night. Senator Levin is Jewish. Just to demonstrate his incredible popularity, last Sunday I met the publisher of the Detroit Chaldean newspaper. Remember that Detroit has one of the largest Chaldean communities in the world, outside of the Middle East. The publisher said to me, "We (the Chaldean people) don't like Carl Levin. We love Carl Levin."

On Friday night, Senator Levin spoke about the situation in Iraq. He argued that the United States Congress should set a date for withdrawal. He emphasized that the Administration had done this country enormous damage by condoning torture. Senator Levin is a dynamic speaker who clearly has insight into the issues. (It doesn't matter whether or not I agree with him.) After the Senator finished his talk he took questions. I told him that I thought that his speech dealt with very important issues, the kinds of issues that students in U.S. high schools must be thinking about. I explained that the appropriate class to discuss these issues in is social studies. But, social studies is the only major subject that need not be tested, according to No Child Left Behind. I asked the Senator if he and his colleagues would consider including social studies as a mandated subject area in the revision of No Child. Senator Levin said that he and his colleagues would look at the legislation.

The title of Senator Levin's talk was "Defending Democracy at Home and Abroad." I truly believe that discussion of fundamental issues of diplomacy is crucial to U.S. security. The skills that are taught in social studies are crucial to U.S. security. I'd argue that rather than being considered the least important subject area, social studies should be considered one of the most important. I'm hoping that Congress mandates testing for social studies in the revision.

Technorati Tags: Carl Levin education social studies NCLB Andrew Pass

Research on Teaching/Learning with Technology

I'm trying to put together a reading list on teaching/learning with technology. I'd like literature to be research based. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks!!

Defending America at Home and Abroad

Tonight I am having dinner with U.S. Senator Karl Levin. It will be a small gathering of about 300. He's actually speaking at my synagogue as part of a monthly program that we have. The title of his talk is Defending Democracy at Home and Abroad. I'm hoping there will be an opportunity for questions afterwards. I plan on asking Senator Levin how we can talk about defending democracy if the one school subject that is not required by No Child Left Behind is social studies. Shouldn't American students have a requirement to learn the values of democracy? If I have time for a follow up, I'll ask him how we can talk about defending democracy when so many websites are blocked from schools and the federal government continues to talk about prohibiting more sites. (Do you remember DOPA?)

Splice Music

A few days ago I was about to post a question asking how to find music to use for podcasts. I was hoping to be able to simply cut clips and place them where I wanted to on my podcast. This past Monday I looked and looked and was not able to find anything that would help me do what I wanted to do. Last night I figured I would type the words Splice and Music into Google. Well lo and behold there's a site called SpliceMusic.com that has a lot of freely available music (creative commons license). I'm still learning how to use the site effectively, but I learned that if I download things in MP3 format, I can then import them into Audacity. Using Audacity I can then insert voice segments between music clips. Though I'm learning how to use Splice Music it appears as if my friend's son has already picked it up. Last night I told him about the site. Tonight he's combining different songs to make new music. (He's ten.) Actually, it's probably because he's ten and a native to digital land that he's able to learn the program so quickly.

I want to now find a site for my friend's son that will allow him to make his own music. I know I'm amazed with things that have been possible for a long time but as somebody who is late to the game I'll enjoy my amazement.

Technorati Tags: Andrew Pass education Splice Music Digital Native

Using Current Events in History

I'm in the process of writing an article for TechLearning about the changes that must be made to textbook review committees, in the light of the incredible speed with which knowledge evolves in the Twenty First Century. I'm also in the process of reviewing a unit that I have written for World History for Us All, considering why the Soviets opposed expanding the Marshall Plan to Eastern European nations. The Soviets did not want the U.S. government to have influence in nations so close to the Soviet borders. (Considering the massive destruction that occurred in the Soviet Union at the hands of the German government, it's not surprising that the Soviets wanted to protect their borders and have a buffer zone.)

As you likely know the relationship between the United States and Russia is currently encountering significant tension. The Bush Administration wants to place anti-missile devices in Poland. President Putin does not want the U.S. government to do this. The parallels between the present situation and the situation involving the Marshall Plan are obvious. Educated American students should understand the U.S.'s relationship with Russia. But there are no textbooks that include information about the present tension. If teachers are going to draw parallels between the Marshall Plan and the present situation they can't rely on their textbooks. They must use online resources such as Wikipedia. Many educators discourage use of Wikipedia because it was not written by experts. There's no need for me to fully support Wikipedia here. Suffice it to say that if teachers want to find information, or even better have their students find information, on the current tension between the Russians and the Americans, Wikipedia is a great place to begin. It's not a great place to stop, though. But, Wikipedia has links to other respectable sites, such as the L.A. Times, which provide additional information about this tension.

What's the point of studying the past if we can't use the information in the present? What's the point of studying the Marshall Plan if we can't compare it to relevant current events. If we left it to the textbooks alone, we wouldn't even know about the current tension.

Technorati Tags: Andrew Pass education Current Events Textbook Wikipedia

8th Graders Talk about God

Listen to this podcast in which I read several short essays written by eighth graders about God.

It is 3:59 long.

Learning Challenges and Moms

Vicki Davis's sixth grade son wrote a great essay on the importance of character. What struck me was not her son's essay but her preface to it. The post is entitled, "The Essay that Rocked my world: The Personal side of LD." Both Vicki's son and I have special ed. issues. (Apparently we are also both pretty intelligent.) But, more importantly we both have extraordinary mothers, mothers who realized that we had issues and helped us overcome them.

I wrote a comment in response to Vicki's posting. It's not up yet, but hopefully if you go over to her blog you'll see the comment. In this comment I thanked my mother for watching out for me when I was too young to watch out for myself. I thanked my mother for making sure that I had access to the opportunities that I have today. I think we need to thank all mothers.

Wikipedia Resource

Take a look at this resource for Wikipedia. The site serves as a useful glossary for everything Wikipedia.

Free Lesson Plans for Teachers Living Textbook

I just wanted to let you know that over the weekend I have spent some time updating my living textbook. I've added several lessons on religion and fixed several linking errors. I've also posted a new lesson on the first page. Over the coming days I hope to upload numerous more lesson ideas. Take a look here.

The WWE

My friend's sons love the WWE. For those of you who aren't quite familiar with this acronym,you're luck. But,it's the World Wrestling Entertainment. The matches are all scripted but the genre of entertainment/sport is incredibly popular. People will pay big money for the autographs of well known wrestlers. People enjoy watching as people beat up on one another. It reminds me of video games where the purpose is to kill one another. It also reminds me of an ancient Roman Colosseum where gladiators fought each other until death.

Why is that people enjoy watching others beat up on one another? This might sound like a leap of logic, but is there a relationship between this type of "competition" and the quest for the newest technological tools. My father loves to say that the difference between the man and a boy is the price of his toys. Why do so many people strive for the most expensive toys? Is the idea to one-up each other? If so, why? Does anybody really need a telephone that many of us have sitting on our hips that's actually a tiny computer? I'm glad I have one but do I need it?

Today in my current events newsletter I wrote about evolution. Is it possible that our quest to one-up each other has something to do with survival of the fittest? If this is the case, I have several question: There is a great deal of difference between the lifestyles of today's generation and the lifestyles of those who lived 5000 years ago, during the closing centuries of the Neolithic era. Change is happening far faster today than ever before. In 5,000 years what kinds of technology are people going to have? What is "one up-manship" going to look like five thousand years from now?

I might be in a down mood tonight, but I think it's fair to ask these questions. It's necessary to think about the answers.

What Does it Take to Teach an Online Technology Course?

Question: What qualifications should somebody have to teach an online course on technology in education?

Answer: Obviously, I'm not certain if this answer is correct, but when I consider the above question I can't help but thinking about several frames of thinking that Lee Shulman laid out in an article entitled, "Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching." According to this article teachers need to understand: available resources; curriculum content; student understanding of content knowledge, including possible preconceptions and misconceptions; milieu of teaching environment; pedagogical knowledge; and pedagogical content knowledge.

Towards the development of a better understanding of teaching technology for education, I wonder what the average teacher and pre-teacher thinks about the role that technology should play in education. What percentage of teachers have at least ten websites bookmarked, in one way or another, that they access as educational resources? In how many classes is the computer primarily a typewriter?

What are the best ways to move teachers from hardly using the Internet in education to actively using the tools of Web 2.0? When I conduct professional development workshops, I often repeat something that David Warlick told me many months ago: "The greatest obstacle in developing the skills needed to use available technology is fear. Get over the fear and nearly everything becomes possible."

But as I think about this statement now, it might be enough for teachers who consciously choose to enroll in educational technology courses. But, what about teachers who don't voluntarily enroll in such courses? How does one get teachers who don't see the value of technology to recognize the ways in which technology can improve learning? The best teachers of educational technology possess frameworks for answering this question.



Technorati Tags: Andrew Pass education Online Courses Web 2.0

I've Got to Learn How to Travel

Ok, I'm headed to Florida for some meetings. My flight was booked on Delta. I didn't think to get the boarding pass before I left my office. As soon as I got into line at the Delta gate, an attendant told me that the flight was operated by Northwest. Down to Northwest I go. I have about twenty minutes to check in before the 1/2 hour deadline. The line crawls and crawls. Finally, I ask a few people if I can cut in front of them so I can make the plane. Many people are very nice and allow me to since their flights are later. One pilot who's waiting to get a ticket becomes beligerent, however. Finally, after dealing with his nasty comments for a few minutes, I get up to the self check in. The computer does not recognize my credit card. Finally, I ask for some help from an agent. She gets me checked in, in what seems like just in time. I start running to the security check point. Again a slow line. Now, I know that I need to be on the plane twenty minutes ahead of time. I get through security and I start running. Anybody who knows me recognizes that I am not a runner. But out of breath, I run up to the gate. I'm sweating and uncomfortable....But relieved to see a full gate. The plane is late.

An Old Friend

I've got to admit that I check traffic to my website way too much. Tonight I saw that a few people visited from a link at "Squad 51." This blog belongs to my old friend, Robert Festenstein. Robert and I grew up together. We went to junior high school together and then became friends in high school. We were very active in the same youth group, United Synagogue Youth. We both knew that Chicago was the greatest city in the world. Today, Robert is the executive director of a large synagogue in Ohio. As you know I am an independent educational consultant Southeastern Michigan. He has two children and is happily married. It's been way too long since we've been in contact. Sometimes I wish that we could go back to the days when people were born and died in same community. Our childhood community would stay our community for life. But, alas, that's impossible. Even as the world has become a flatter smaller place; it's become a larger place where it's too easy to move hundreds of miles at different points throughout life. In the process, we lose touch with good friends and make new ones.

But, Robert, I just wanted to say thank you for thinking of me and putting a link to my blog on your blog. I miss you.

MUVES - The Future of Education

Recently I've been thinking about the importance of collaboration. Web 2.0 allows people to communicat with one another instantaeously, at almost zero cost. It's really neat. But research has never demonstrated that students attain more educational achievement when they communicate wth peers around the globe. I'm not suggesting that such collaboration is worthless.

But, I want to emphasize that research suggests that Multi-User Virtual Environments have the potentail to make an incredible difference to edutional attainment. Research demonstrates that students achieve more when they have an opportunity to learn knowledge and skills in realistic contexts, where they actually need the knowledge and skills. Imagine the ways in which MUVEs could help produce these contexts. I can envision a day when students use virtual platforms to create worlds that they are studying in social studies. Of course, they'll have to use math skills to develop certain parts of the worlds. As students create these worlds they'll build activities into them that other students will be able to complete to enhance their own education.

Of course, in many instances students will not possess all of the knowledge and skills needed to completely construct their own worlds. When this occurs, teachers might provide virtual worlds within which students can complete appropriate tasks. As they master these tasks they can be challenged with more difficult tasks until they are able to create worlds and experiences on their own.

The purpose of education might be thought of as trying to bring together a series of significant experiences that students could potentially have in non-educational contexts. In these non-educational contexts, they will be expected to manage themselves competently. Educational provides them with the skills to do this. If this is the purpose of education, what better way to provide students with high quality education than asking them to respond to these experiences in virtual words before encountering them in the real world?

I'm hoping to learn far more about MUVEs in the coming months.

Technorati Tags: Andrew Pass education MUVE classroom20

Teaching Tact

Apparently Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki left a dinner reception hosted by the Egyptian foreign minister early. His office claimed that he was offended by a "revealing" dress worn by a performer. U.S. Secretary of State Rice had planned on approaching the Iranian foreign minister at this dinner.

The New York Times quotes Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman as saying “I’m not sure which woman he was afraid of, the one in the red dress or the secretary of state,” he said.

Is this an appropriate qustion to ask? I'm a right wing supporter of Israel, but I also believe that all religions deserve respect. Religious views that do not incite violence also deserve to be respected. The Iranian foreign minister left the dinner. He did not cause an uproar or anything else. Should a state department spokesman have asked who he was "afraid of?"

What do your students think of this comment?


Technorati Tags: Andrew Pass education State Department

The Nation

Linda Darling Hammond and others write "Evaluating 'No Child Left Behind'" in The Nation.

Virtual Environments Meet International Relations

The New York Times is reporting that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. The article states, "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Syrian counterpart here today in the first high-level diplomatic contact between Washington and Damascus in more than two years."

Within the world of international politics a face to face meeting is seen as far more significant than a telephone call or letter.

I wonder where MUVEs (multi-user virtual environments) will fit into the hierarchy of international contact. Certainly, avatars could be created in the image of national leaders. What if two avatars representing leaders from two different countries met in a virtual conference room and the real leaders used their words in communication? Would this be considered more significant than a phone call? What effect will MUVEs have on international relations?

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What's an Avatar?

Last night Jeremy Koester, a friend of his, and now mine, and I were experimenting with Second Talk on Second Life. Second Talk is a lot like Skype, it allows people to talk to one another. Anyhow we started talking about avatars. I have several questions that I'd like to ask to promote conversation. For the purpose of these questions simply assume that the avatar remains within PG zones.

1. In what ways does a real person relate to his/her own avatar?
2. In what ways does a real person relate to other avatars?
3.How does a Second Life conversation compare to an RL conversation?
4. If somebody spent nearly all of their socialization time on SL, would it be a healthy thing? Why/why not?
5. In regards to the substance of the conversation, does SL allow for anything that RL (face to face and telephone conversations) does not allow for? If so, what?
6. What other questions should I be asking?


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Effective Use of Internet Resources for Educators

It's funny how professional development works. I've offered quite a few professional development workshops through intermediate school districts that have been cancelled because of low enrollment. However, I just got a phone call from Oakland Intermediate School District in Michigan informing me that the workshop I have scheduled for next week already has 15 participants enrolled. Interestingly, a similar workshop was scheduled for March 5 that only attracted 3 participants and was therefore cancelled. The workshop description states:

Participants will be exposed to an array of websites and will interact with them, including looking at on-line activities. Participants will consider seven essential questions when considering how to best utilize these websites in their instructional practice:
1. What do you like about this site?
2. Why do you like this site?
3. What standard, benchmark, or Grade Level Content Expectations would be achieved by using this resource in your classroom?
4. How would you incorporate this idea into the instruction within your classroom?
5. How could you incorporate this idea without the use of computers?
6. Reflecting on how the idea was incorporated into instruction, what went well?
7. What did not go well? Why?

I'm thrilled to have the chance to teach this workshop again.