Rewired Learning Blog

Teaching with the inverted bell curve (well curve) pt.1

             Most classes have a grade arrangement where upon examination the scores fall into a bell curve or some pattern that looks similar to one. What happens if the reverse is true? There is no bell curve but instead you see a “well curve” where it looks like the bell curve turned upside down.

            I can think of two reasons for this occurrence. First is jus a bad spate of randomness. If you go to a casino and visit the roulette table, you might see a digital chart of the last 10 numbers rolled for that game. Look around at enough tables you are bound to see a section of 6 numbers in a row that all come up red. Having red come up 6 times in a row is a worse than a 1-to-64 chance (because there are two green spots as well) yet is does happen. Taking 4 people from the middle scoring group of a class and replacing them with 2 above average students and two below average students can severely alter the class makeup, grade breakdown, and the manner in which the class is taught.

            The second reason is because of some barrier in place. If I pour a cup of sand on the ground, it piles up in a pyramid or conical shape. If I pour the sand on my closed fist then let it go to the ground, there will be two smaller mounds on either side of my hand. This creates the double bell curve or a well curve.

            For schools, specifically high schools, this blockage would be another course. Often it would be a course offered in a limited manner such as an AP course where only one section exists and must be placed at a specific spot in the schedule. Because of this one class will probably exhibit the normal distribution, but the other class (receiving the fallout from the blockage) will be sure to suffer. Two large groups of distinct abilities will prevent the teacher from using specific techniques to enhance either side to their full extent if it does not coalesce with the opposing group.

            While probably needed to fulfill certain school or class requirements, it must be weighed and given regard the differences in classroom abilities that are then constructed.

When education is too bright and shiny for education

Recently we had a presentation from a map company since it was our turn in the school system to purchase maps. He offered the traditional, never replaceable pull down maps as well as many other hands-on materials that we have other editions of. Then he presents a new on-line product linked with multiple overlay maps and satellite images.

As someone who writes on the idea of using technology in school, at first I thought it was great. There is a learning curve and there are some limitations on the amount of people that can use it at one time and who can use it, but I am sure that properly done it could be an asset. Here is the problem though: it is almost too cool. Almost too advanced for maps. Maps are flat, colorful, sometimes bumpy and always fairly large. The leap from this to a fully interactive multi-layered item with dozens of features from zooming to labeling is quite dramatic.

Obviously I am not disregarding the whole material at all. I should show that my mantra is to go nearly totally paperless with wireless access points nearly everywhere and classrooms that are flexible because of this. If you take a country boy and put them in the city and tell them there are more opportunities there, what might the reaction be? Some might adjust well, some might freak out and go back to the country and others might just go wild with opportunity. I fear the third one here.

Remember the internet 1.0? from books and libraries to everything immediately all at once. Laws were created, addictions started and online bullying became a phrase in the public schools. Obviously there have been huge benefits from the internet from the point of a tool, but it can be used negatively as well.

Again, I can’t disparage the map system, but it does raise the question: Can technology that is bright and flashy be just a little too bright and flashy in the classroom?

Why education on-line improves due dates

Why? No forgetting. Working on-line means having the access of creation and submission at your fingertips. It is like writing a birthday card at the mailbox and forgetting to send it. Creating something or preparing a project on a computer often means printing it out or burning it to a disk in order to physically hand it to the teacher. Admittedly I am not quite to the level of all electronic submissions, but I should be and tend to be soon...although that is a future topic to discuss.

As our world is increasingly electronic, it makes little sense for us to assign things that we know are are done or completed electronically, but we require a hard copy. One thing would have to be changed though: more sever penalties for late submissions. The two people that can tell liars better than anyone else are cops and teachers. Due dates can be fudged and have excuses made for and sometimes the teacher (possibly me) will buy into it and give an extra day. On-line submissions release teacher error in this manner. The following is possible now:

Student: I left my assignment at home

Teacher: Why

Student: oh I just forgot it (or my printer died or i dont hav a printer). Can you be here after school (or my mom can drive it in)

Squishy teacher like me: ok but you have 30 minutes to get it here (or by the end of the day or you have to email it to me by 5pm)

Student: ok

The conversation would switch to the following:

Student: I forgot to send in my assignment

Teacher: Why

Sttudent: I did it but I just forgot to email (or what other type of electronical submission you want it in) it to you.

Teacher: So you mean to tell me that you spent an hour doing this and could not spend the next 90 seconds opening up your email and sending it to me...???

Student: Um...yea

Teacher: That does not make sense. I dont believe you did it.

Student: No really I did!

And of course the conversation can continue but tht teacher has more ammuniton instead of an innocent sounding "oops!"

As I said, my and other teachers not accepting online submissions is a problem for another entry, but when the decision has been made to accept all outside classwork electronically, starting this process must be thorough:

1) For homework the first week, each student has to email you.

2)  You must email the students back.

3) The student needs to printout a a copy of the email you sent for verification

4) Everything must then be electronically submitted and if not, must be handed it physically (if they feel there is an error)

5) Policy needs to be changed to at least 50% off for the first day late

6) Policy also needs to be changed to a form where if they send it in one day before it is due, they have an opportunity to see if the teacher received it and after that the previous policy goes into effect (this is for anyone who claims email problems which are nearly non-existant unless the sender gets a error message)

A slow implimentation towards this end will increase proper use of technology and instill timliness amongst students, preventing extreme procrastination.

Using slideshare and student projects...again

With finals in December it has been quite a time since I updated the site. Back in the swing after a week it is time to start taking some time to look at tasks again to update them out of archaic manners to a more computer friendly sphere.

Last week my AP Psychology students were asked to create 6 slides on PowerPoint. Three were to be how they view their gender role and 3 were to be how they view the roles of the opposing gender. I asked them to email me their slides and I will compile them. I did one of my periods so far and it can be viewed at bit.ly/6qIm34. Then I used that period's slides and shoed them to all my other AP Psych classes as a reflection on how a sample of their peers viewed gender roles. They were pretty solid talking points and I would have to say that I had a much higher than average interest level in the classroom. Here is the easy way to do this task as a teacher:

1) Have them email their PowerPoint presentations.

2) Save all their attachments into one folder on  your hard drive.

3) Open PowerPoint, and use the merge presentation feature to combine all thier slides.

4) Using Adobe Acrobat (the one where you can create your own PDF's) or the newest version of Microsoft PowerPoint, change the presentation to a PDF file.

5) After you created a slideshare account, upload your file and present it to the class via projector, individually in a lab or as homework and have an assignment with it.

Now you can stop at step 3 and just present to your class, but the purpose of using slideshare is to introduce your student to the interactive web. Additionally slideshare enables others to view your presentations, publically or privately

 

 

Trying to ride the Wave...Google style

So today I got the Google Wave invitation. I'm playing around with it now and for classroom uses, I see two issues so far. First - because it is still in limited release, getiing a whole classroom of people to independently to get the wave is a logistical challenge. Second - many schools are Microsoft IE, there needs to be a Google Chrome install that would have to be on every computer in the lab. Obviously the second point is negated if they have a project to work on at home. But that would bring up the second problem of home internet access. There does seem to be a learning curve as well. My first two uses will be for students to create their own tests (yes there is explaining here that will be done later) and to have real time note taking. I'll update more as I figure (and configure for HS classes) the Wave.

Facebook vs. the Teaching Profession...Facebook wins

Recently there a Georgia teacher was released from her position, or she resigned more to the point, based on her Facebook status. From the many sites I read, it involved a teacher holding an alcoholic beverage and somewhere in the posting was the word “bitch” or a derivative of that.

    This blog entry has no point in going on further in to the implications of what is wrong and what is right concerning the firing of a teacher. What is important is the protection of character in the “semi-private” sphere. Lets face it, what you do at home in front of 2-5 people is private, on the street corner next to a 60 story building is public…in front of 100 “friends” is semi-private. Everyone can be on Facebook but like it or not, others can peek.  Blogging for science and technology in the classroom also entails protecting yourself, student and teacher alike, from those technologies as well.

    Students have, hopefully, heard many times and half-tuned into the notices about putting yourself too much on line, but many adults have not. What adults understand is not to listen to scams and give out their social security and credit card numbers. Public and private have melded into a middle ground that never existed 15 years ago and has become more prevalent in the last 3-4 years with the influx social media programs. New rules have to be written and learned to be seen as a person and not a radical…which in this case is a 24 year old with a beer saying a curse word.

    Many websites are now places to meet and like it or not, the web is a nearly permanent marketing place for a person (can you ever be truly positive that another website took down your pictures?). Here are some simple guide lines on what not to do on a social gathering site as a teacher (if not for others) :

1)   Don’t  Curse

I think cursing is silly, I mean the fact that there are a few unspeakable words out there that I am pretty sure that all of my Facebook friends have said and I don’t think less of them for it. Use  #$%@#$  when needed to, we all get the idea of extreme frustration.

2)   Don’t allude to too much imbibing

As a teacher of Juniors and Seniors in High School for the past 4 years, saying that you had a beer or two while having dinner means you are an adult and they think nothing of it. Anything more than that, some students might think that you are one of them… You should be able to identify with them, but not be one of them. Even if you shared two glasses of Balvenie 30 and some Vintage 1977 port (neither of them students can understand the complexity of) with a friend of 20 years, don’t write about it.

3)   Don’t Lie

Why? Besides the obvious, if they found out they can throw it in your face, and so could the administration that might find the page as well (and if they find out, then everything you say is under suspicion)

 

4)   Don’t get too personal

Don’t say anything you would not tell an adversary of yours. If you ever think that you are putting something down in writing that could affect you, don’t do it. While your best friend might argue with you about it, students might laugh about you behind your back and administrators might call you down and discuss conduct and propriety. I have seen people with over 1500 Facebook friends. That is a lot of people that have an opinion on your personal life and I am sure that all 1500 of those friends are not very close friends. Are  you sure that the day might come that your “friend” is subpoenaed over a Facebook account will never arrive…I am not.

5)   Never,Never Ever have students as friends

 

Way too many instances as to why this can go wrong. Keeping with the spirit of this blog, I do encourage teachers to create a SECOND Facebook account where they create a community of students and where the teacher’s manner is the same as in class. Additionally I would encourage notifying administrators as to this account and supplying them access to be sure that all instances from students and teachers are classroom appropriate and it will protect both in the mean time. But , if you have only one personal account, a student with access could have an undesirable person over their shoulder looking at your content. I am always amazed as to who knows who in the hallways of school and I have to assume that my favorite is best friends with my least favorite.

 

Social media outlets are like Napster in 1999, no one wrote the rules for this type of interaction yet. They are also like credit cards, excellent tools that can easily be abused to the point where they can affect your future. Remember: you control what is placed about you on the internet and you market yourself every time you post something. Would you ever wear to your job a t-shirt that stated all of your Facebook statuses? If you answered no, you might want to rethink your manner of posting.

A first step towards social media in the High School classroom (Part 1)

Today, thanks to slideshare.com, I took a first step towards using a social media outlet in the classroom. My assignment can be found at www.bit.ly/4l48iu but briefly it is having students make Powerpoints that are much better than the average one we see in the classroom. They viewed an example presentation about social media (which served the dual purpose of presenting the material to them as well as looking at a good presentation) and then my presentation, shown in my blog below, about creating good Powerpoints. They are working on only 6 slides using 2-3 vocabulary words from the AP Psychology chapter we are studying but first results are great. They cant just copy information and spit it out on screen, they have to think about the term and convert it into something pictoral as well as written. The examples I have seen today are very good with interesting and proper graphics. Thinking about how to translate text into a different medium presents a different type of cognition which will hopefully sink into their minds.

At the end of this project I will gather all their slides and compile it into one powerpoint/slideshare presentation for each class. Kind of a class collaboration but not quite, hence the "first step" mentioned above. In the future I might have them all post their PPT's and have others comment on them. When I have the collaboration placed into one presentation I'll list the site here. I have good expectations of work coming out of this project.

Implementation of the digital age in the classroom is haphazard

  

  "We're experiencing a revolution in education like the one we went through in the 1800s when we went from an education system based on apprenticeship to one based on universal schooling...We're not saying schools are going away. It's just that the people who are using technology for learning are really doing it outside of school. Just as in the 1800s -- when the industrial revolution was starting in America -- this again is a time of flux because of the digital revolution." -Allan Collins

I ran across this quote the other day and had to include it here because of its pertinence to the gap between technology and current learning systems. We have Web 2.0 (the movement from static web pages to interactive ones where conversations can happen) now we need to start with a comprehensive Learning 2.0. We see it coming, it is not taking us by surprise, but we are reacting to it like a car headed towards us at 2 miles an hour. "Oh no! We are going to get run over very slowly, eventually"

Going to college in the early 1990s, few students had computers, computer labs were good but, especially to today’s standards, not powerful and almost no one had cell phones. Fifteen or so years later PC's are everywhere and cell phones and smart phones are nearly ubiquitous, even at high school levels. While computers have been placed in the classrooms, cell phones have been expelled. The digital revolution that is here is limited in many educational facilities. I feel it is because we don’t know how to use it. PowerPoint is easy and can be learned and used just like over head notes, there is no real advancement (ooh a picture). Collins would possibly describe this level of technological development in the classroom as “willy-nilly”

  We need to find a way to use the new materials and not expel them from classrooms. PowerPoint for notes is not advancement. Twittering students questions to be answered on line, or having the first 10 that twitter the response back get an extra point or two might be valid (interval reinforcement, instead of cramming knowledge into someone over 55 minutes and hope they read the book). It seems that the digital revolution is getting lost in education not because of the access to technology, but the need to teach the teachers (and administrations) methods of implementation for these new technologies (e.g. Facebook, blogging, Twitter).

Climate change with reduction of paper via mobile communication

Today is blog action day, where bloggers go and all try to talk about one subject. This year it is climate change. This reaches in easily with my goals at this site: to use social media and moble communications to enhance education.

Why cant I test remotely? Why cant I twitter quiz? A facebook quiz posted at 6pm and you have until 10pm to respond? I know there are security and proper assessment obstacles to overcome but beyond those it could benefit all. Tesitng in a less stress environment, testing in a certain window not on command and testing with immediate results...and of course, no paper.

I dont have all the answers on these matters, actually, I have most of the questions. Yet when we see students using their most frequent means of communication and their most beloved devices as items of assessment, reams of paper will not be the only thing saved.