This Swiftly Tilting Planet

Websites for Students by Students

2010-03-04T08:24:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week I had a teacher email me about creating websites with students. His intent was to use Microsoft Publisher to allow the students to create the websites, and then try to figure out a way that they could post them in MOODLE, but once again one of the students had another idea. The student suggested to the teacher that they use Wix.com and the teacher was asking if that was an appropriate service to use with the students. Since the teacher was wanting to use Wix with 5th & 6th grade students, I immediately went to Wix's Terms of Use which states, in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), that they cannot serve individuals under the age of 13. Therefore, I dugg down into my Diigo bookmarks and found two alternatives to Wix: Weebly and Yola. Again I immediately dove into both sites Terms of Use and found that once again, they were set-up to collect information about their users, therefore they were subjected to COPPA - but then I noticed a link on the Weebly website: Weebly for Education.

Needless to say, Weebly got it right with the education version. It allows a teacher to sign-up for an account and then create anonymous student accounts which can all be managed by the teacher. There is a limitation of 40 student accounts, but you can increase that amount by recruiting other teachers to use Weebly for Education. It has all the features of the regular Weebly site as well.

In the end, all three companies have a nice product, but Weebly did a great job of giving teachers with students under the age of 13 a place to build websites (and not with Microsoft Publisher!).

Ubuntu and Microsoft AD Authentication

2010-02-26T21:02:00.002-06:00

My school district has had iMacs and Windows-based PCs operating on the same network for a couple of years. This coexistence of operating systems was primarily made possible by the addition of an Apple X-Serve to our fleet of servers. This allowed us to control system updates like we do with the Windows Update Server, prevent Microsoft Office for Mac from asking for user information from every person that uses the computer, install network printers, and even manage minor things like which applications appear by default in the dock (going to the applications folder to find Firefox is just plain silly).

But this week, I have had a new challenge placed before me. A student wrote to our high school librarian advocating the use of Linux on "a few" student desktop computers, which of course got passed on to me. I have toyed with this idea on and off for several years, but this email in particular caused me to search my office and the server room high and low for that Ubuntu 9.10 desktop OS disk I knew we had around there somewhere (which would keep me from having to download it...again). A little while later and I had a test platform running Ubuntu Karmic Koala and ready for my experiment - can I get it to authenticate against Microsoft Active Directory just like our iMacs?

I did some quick Google searches, sifted through the information for older Ubuntu releases, and finally settled on the Likewise Open package. I used the directions found here to install the Likewise packages from the repositories. I had some difficulty getting either the GUI version of CLI version to join the computer to the domain, until I realized that I had not installed all of the packages I needed. I installed "likewise-open", "likewise-open5", and "likewise-open5-gui". Once all of those packages were installed then viola the computer literally leaped onto the domain and started allowed network logins to access it.

There are two more things I want to do before releasing Ubuntu desktops to students: 1. create an AD security group that has Sudoers rights and 2. map to the network user's home directories upon login. I've read articles and how-to's for both of these issues so far and I will report back once I am successful.

Looks like my district may be well on it's way to having three desktop operating systems sharing the same network.

Image Credit: www.argazkiak.org/photo/ubuntu-910/

Review: Asus Eee PC T91MT

2010-02-22T07:47:00.005-06:00

I recently purchased an Asus Eee PC T91MT convertible tablet netbook. I was doing research for a netbook project for my district (see post) and I ran across this little gem on the Asus website. I was intrigued by the possibilities of a convertible tablet netbook but was unable to get one on demo, so I purchased three for field testing with different people in our district (it might be important to note that our district is heavily invested in tablet PC technology). I took one and gave the other two to other people attending the recent Texas Computer in Education Association conference in Austin, Texas. We were to put them through their paces to see if they were suitable for classroom use. The first thing we noticed was the undersized keyboard. While the 8.9" screen is adequate - it doesn't have the keyboard size to make it possible to input text via the keyboard on an extended basis. Of course, we didn't get the device strictly for it's netbook properties, but we also put the tablet functions quickly to work. The netbook handles Windows 7 Professional reasonably well, but struggles when you get more than two programs open at once. It worked great for taking notes during sessions and checking email - the size was spot on and the solid state drive made it more rugged for portable use.

The touch screen is a bit different than the one on the Toshiba Portege series of convertible notebooks/tablet PCs. It can be manipulated by either a stylus or your finger. Not only that, it's multi-touch. Unfortunately, Microsoft's OneNote gets a bit confused by the multi-touch functionality and you have to be careful while writing on the tablet.

One thing of note about this netbook: It does not fit into Microsoft's netbook standard therefore it is being shipped with Windows 7 Home Edition, not Starter Edition. We upgraded ours using our Microsoft School Licensing Agreement to Windows 7 Professional so we could join them to the domain.

In the end, all three of us like the netbooks, but the smaller keyboard and higher price (about $150 more than the 1005HA) as well as the sluggishness under a load kept us from using it for our netbook project. Nevertheless, they are great for meetings and days that require a long battery life (4-5 hours). I don't regret the decision to purchase these netbooks.

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35983122@N08/3545859496/

Review: Asus Eee PC 1005HA-VU1X

2010-02-22T07:45:00.003-06:00

My district recently decided to purchase some netbooks in order to fill a gap in needs at our intermediate campus. I have been following netbooks for the past several years and even purchased the original Asus Eee PC when it first came out. After quite a bit of diliberation, it was settled that we would purchase the Asus Eee PC 1005HA-VU1X. Our criteria for selection consisted on screen size, hard drive size, RAM, and perhaps most important - price. We considered a locally branded companion netbook, Acer Aspire One, Toshiba's netbook, and several Asus models. We choose the 1005HA because it fit the preferred 10.1" screen, 160GB hard drive, 1 GB RAM (upgradeable to 2 GB) and all that for the cheapest price.

The first item of business once they showed up was to get the first one out of the box and begin the process of creating a image that meets our district standard. The image creation process was a dream. I used an external USB CD/DVD-ROM drive to load Windows XP Professional (it came with XP Home Edition) per our Microsoft School Licensing Agreement. Then I inserted the included drivers CD and in less than an hour I had a fully functioning, bloatware free netbook. After a couple of days of loading programs, we attempted to capture the image using FOG. Unfortunately, FOG doesn't include the Atheros network driver needed by the Eee, so we fell back to using Symantec's Ghost. Counter space limited us to imaging only seven netbooks at a time, but in less than a day our technicians had them all ready to go.

Overall, I am pretty impressed with this netbook. It is small enough to be ultra-portable, yet had a nice size screen and just after a few minutes at the keyboard I was back up to my full typing speed (which is not very fast, but I was clicking along just as good as at my full size keyboard on my desktop). It is very responsive to commands and seems to handle 2-3 simultaneous programs as well as most other standard portable computers.

Edit: fixed a typo

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32685996@N08/3948311908/

I am a blogger...

2010-02-22T07:36:00.001-06:00

Last week, Mark Cockrell wrote a very nice article on his views of blogging in education, entitled "I don't want to be a blogger". There are many points he makes about blogging that I might be forced to agree with (and especially with some points made in the comments). However, Mark's idea seems to pigeon hole everyone that calls themselves a blogger into a realm that they are something less than a writer - especially if they endorse utilizing blogging with students as a form of writing. To me blogging is not about the writing, it's about the sharing of ideas, the creation of discussion with other people interested in the same things as me. Of course people come to my blog to read - even read things that I have written, but even those boring peer-reviewed academic journals utilize charts and graphs to clarify points and show information. To me, blogging is a form of writing that utilizes the abilities of modern technology to incorporate video, pictures, charts, graphs, and yes even text...text that is written...by a blogger.

Should blogging be the only method of teaching writing to students? NO! Of course not, that would be foolish, but to not expose students to as many different types of writing as possible would be as equally foolish. In essence, Mark takes offense to the term blogger because it seems to depict something less than what bloggers really are, which are writers. In my mind, blogging is more than writing - it is conveying information through every possible channel available by the current technologies in an ongoing discussion with peers (i.e., no teachers, no students, everyone is a learner). It doesn't matter whether that information is text, video, or graphics.

Mark, my brother, I will accept your epithet of writer, but I will still call myself a blogger.

EduBlogging Alliance

2010-01-05T22:16:00.003-06:00

Kelly Tenkely over at iLearnTechnology might have hit on an idea that will bring me out of my unintentional hiatus from blogging. Outlined in this post she suggests forming an alliance of educational bloggers that work together to create discussion and support/promote one another.

I had the intention of returning to blogging once I completed my PhD and even wrote a few posts, but I could not get myself back into writing (maybe it had something to do with the 200+ pages of writing for my dissertation??). I think this type of blogging alliance could be the encouragement and stimulating conversation I need to get back to my blog.

Unhackable Netbooks...

2009-09-27T22:16:00.003-05:00

I recently saw a headline on Digg that read "Unhackable Netbooks Given to Students" and it immediately peaked my interest. In my role at my school district I am constantly tinkering with the idea of student laptops and how I would implement them so I eagerly snap up ideas from people that have already implemented ubiquitous computing. The linked article from Australia focused primarily on the security measures the government agency responsible for the program had dreamed up in order to remain in control of the equipment (fixed asset BIOS, Windows 7 applocker, etc.).

However, the discussion within the article's comments seemed to hit upon another level: several commentators felt that the program was the result of corporate sponsorship which actually reduced a child's capacity for learning instead of increasing it. How? By forcing students to utilize a Microsoft operating system (Windows 7), Microsoft productivity suite (Office), and Adobe creativity suite (CS4). These commentators felt that the students should have the option to utilize Open Office to complete assignments and they should not be forced to run Windows operating systems on machines that become their personal property after several years.

I tend to agree. I have seriously considered distributing Linux-based netbooks to students in my district, perhaps even giving them the choice to run Windows OS if they so choose - an event that has only been hampered by the lack of two things: Funding and Lack of Readiness (particularly teacher readiness to teach with laptops - a fault that primarily falls to me). I went so far as to purchase a 7" ASUS eeePC just to "try it out". Maybe it's time to bite off this project and get it going...

Google SideWiki

2009-09-23T20:25:00.003-05:00

I saw a couple of articles (here and here) in my RSS feed tonight about a new Google project called Google Sidewiki.

The project looks to be along the lines of other web annotation services like Diigo and Trailfire but is incorporated into the Google Toolbar. Perhaps that is the problem...I personally despise all these toolbar browser add-ons. It doesn't matter if it's Google, Yahoo, or heaven forbid Hotbar toolbars - they all take up precious screen real estate without enhancing the web surfing experience. Maybe I'm just thinking of the toolbars of the 1990s that caused your Windows machine to slow to a snail's pace. No matter, Google you can keep your sidewiki, I'll stick to Diigo.

Hasta la vista, Vista!

2009-09-22T21:28:00.004-05:00

I am saying goodbye to an operating system that probably never should have been: Windows Vista. I was an early adopter running the release candidate and beta versions before moving to the full version after it was released. Then, in a moment of exasperation, I wiped my machine and moved to Windows XP x64. I did not go back to Vista until after the release of Service Pack 1 and still fought with Exchange 2003 management snap-ins even then. Back in August, I inserted a Windows 7 disk into my desktop at work and have thoroughly enjoyed the results. So much in fact I wiped out my Toshiba Portege M750 a few weeks later in favor of the new flavor of Windows.

What do I like best? I love being able to pin certain programs to the task bar. Pinning the Remote Desktop application is just pure awesomeness. You can save the login credentials (not a new feature) but then right-click on the pinned application and you get a list of the last 10 computers to which you have connected. I use that feature daily!

I also love the fact that the recent documents menu is gone. It has been moved to the individual applications, so if you goto notepad and hover on it, a list of recently opened TXT files will appear in a menu. It works for the Office products as well which is very handy for opening commonly accessed Excel spreadsheets. I don't know about you, but I hate a cluttered desktop - this feature allows me to get rid of every desktop icon except the recycle bin (the one thing I let stay on the desktop).

I like Windows 7 so much I actually signed up to host a Windows 7 Launch Party at my house - and I was chosen for one (I'm not sure that everyone that applied wasn't chosen, but I don't care I'm getting a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate). So my wife and I sat down and she came up with a great theme for the party, which is the title of my post: Hasta la vista, Vista! So come October 24, my house will be the scene of the ultimate nerd party; sorry the guest list is full :D

BTW - I got the Exchange 2003 management snap-ins installed on my Windows 7 desktop :)

Call me a Cisco Fan Boy

2009-09-22T20:40:00.004-05:00

Yes, call me a Cisco fan boy.

I admit it, but every once in a while I get intrigued by other organizations' choices for VoIP, Wireless LANs, switching/routing, etc.

Today I had the opportunity to visit a neighboring school district and I noticed that they were deploying Extreme wireless access points. My first thought when I see something other than Cisco is that the equipment is either a) cheaper or b) sold to the IT department based upon some misleading information about functionality (e.g. Aruba Wireless representatives told me that Cisco could not centrally control access points) or c) really does something Cisco doesn't (e.g. Xirrus wireless has an interesting wireless array available). I admit it - I am not that familiar with Extreme products, so I started checking them out tonight and had a realization: they are not cheaper than Cisco! I am not sure where that leaves Extreme, but with a 0% failure rate over a 6 year period on our network switches (we have 50+ switches deployed) and wireless LAN (we have ~30 access points), I'm not likely to start looking for a replacement for Cisco anytime soon.

I noticed that they chose 3Com for a VoIP system. Again, not a system I am entirely familiar with, but ever since a vendor tried to sell me a NEC VoIP phone system that relied on a card system (just like any old phone system from the 1970's) I have been a little skittish about VoIP anyways. Cisco makes VoIP almost too easy. The data switches act as your phone cards and the call manager handles all the call routing. No need for any additional equipment (except I do use routers to act as the voice gateway - but they also provide a secondary call manager in case something happens to the main one).

So yes, I am a certified Cisco fan boy....it's because their products work and the work well - and I find them flexible enough to handle an ever changing network architecture. Something my fast growing school district has to be ready to do.

Taxpayers' Money...

2009-07-16T23:12:00.006-05:00

A technician from my district and I attended training being put on by DeepNines today at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. The training covered pretty much their entire product line which is pretty impressive considering how far they have come in the past three years my district has owned their appliance. I was quite surprised at how little sales presentation there really was considering the training itself was free to attend.

As the day progressed we noticed that every person in the room had a laptop with them. As we checked out the different brands and models my technician noticed a couple of really nice Dell laptops sitting in front of the guys right in front of us. His interest in the machines was peaked and he looked them up on the Dell Education website. As you can see in the following screenshot, these laptops cost over $3000 each.

Now I guess what I don't understand is why a school district would purchase such expensive laptops. My question is...is this really the best way to spend taxpayers' money?

I can understand purchasing tablet PCs because of their educational possibilities or even rugged laptops for technicians that are using them in switch closets and other places where they are more likely to be dropped, but nice tablet PCs can be purchased less than for $1500. A Panasonic Toughbook can be obtained for two-thirds the price of this Dell Precision laptop as evidenced by this simple search. Both of these options are more expensive than a basic laptop, but they have their place - what is the place for a $3000 laptop in public education?

Geography and Digital Literacy

2009-05-26T22:48:00.005-05:00

During Steve Hargadon's interview of Michael Wesch, the professor described an interesting concept: geographical social networks are being replaced by interest-based social networks. This notion presents another facet of complexity to the argument for teaching digital literacy in schools (and the subsequent creation of personal learning networks). While this idea might merely be considered a continuation of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat, I think it begins to develop much deeper meaning when viewed not from the technological standpoint but from the anthropological. One hundred years ago, the common teenager's social network was limited to his or her family and local community. The proliferation of the car and telephone created a means by which that network could be expanded - but mechanical limitations, time, and money meant the network was only expanded so far. However, the interconnections of computers across the globe has created the potential for interest-based social networks to be created.

We should be aware that technology, if not implemented carefully can create tremendous destruction. For instance, Neil Postman writes in his book, The End of Education, about how the tractor accelerated and amplified the dust bowl of the 1930s. Similarly, in an interview from 2007, Dr. Wesch seems to echo Postman's statements by saying "if we don’t understand our digital technology and its effects, it can actually make humans and human needs even more invisible than ever before".

Today, the common teenager's community is nearly the entire globe. A private moment can be captured on video and transmitted to the world - releasing the potential humiliation from the geographical boundaries of the past (see this YouTube Search). As technological tools become more prevalent, it becomes all that more important to learn about them so that children and teens can learn about their power - both to create and destroy.

How do we make children and teens understand that words, even if written on a web page have the power the crush an individual?

Journalists Need Digital Literacy Skills too!

2009-05-06T21:56:00.001-05:00

According to this story on Slashdot, an undergraduate student duped journalists by continually adding a fake quote to the wikipedia article on French composer Maurice Jarre after his death. The end result was the seeding of misinformation throughout new and old media.

Now what can we all learn from this? I think that perhaps journalists could learn a few digital literacy skills...let's start with fact-checking.

Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers - Revisited

2009-05-06T21:02:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted on the Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers program and I was convinced it was a joke, but apparently someone has taken it seriously because I got an email this week promoting the "MAR Americas" program by using TCO analyses of Used vs. New Computers.

Here's a tidbit:

Total Cost of Ownership Cost Analysis:
Used vs. New Computers for Schools

Have you ever been asked to justify your assertion that purchasing a refurbished computer is less expensive than purchasing a "New" pc? It seems the issue of warranty, repair and energy consumption is almost always used as a reason to avoid the decision to purchase these machines.

Recently, a school district in the Midwest attacked the issue by laying out this basic formula to analyze the total cost of ownership for the computers they put into their schools.
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) = (Unit Cost/Machine Life) + Estimated Yearly Repair Costs + Estimated Yearly Energy Costs
• Used PC Machine Life = 3 years - 6 years
• New PC Machine Life = 6 years
• Estimated Yearly Repair Costs = (Estimated Yearly Failure Rate * Average Failure Cost)
• Estimated Yearly Failure Rate = 5%
• Average Failure Cost for a PC: with No Warranty = $100; with Onsite Warranty = $10; with Parts Warranty = $30
• Energy Costs = (Active Hours Per Year * Active Watts Used) + (Standby Hours Per Year * Watts Used) * Energy Rate Kwh / 1000 w/kw)
• Active Hours Per Year = 6 * 175 School Days = 1050 hours
• Standby Hours Per Day = 4 * 175 School Days = 700 hours
• Energy Rate kwh = $0.0820/kwh

Now in my experience, even with new equipment it is very easy to exceed a 5% failure rate per year - sad, but its true. Even a refurbished computer that is 3 years old is going to have a higher failure rate than a new computer, simply because there is more wear-and-tear on the parts - particularly the hard drive. Anyhow, you can check out their analysis here.

It's Official! I'm a Doctor

2009-05-06T20:55:00.002-05:00

dissertationdefense
Originally uploaded by edtecher

Yes folks, after 3 years of coursework and a year on my dissertation, I have completed a PhD in Education from the University of Oklahoma.

Here is a picture of the event as my committee was congratulating me!

I also got these emails from the University:

5/4/2009

Thank you. Your submission, "An Examination of the Relationship Between Digital Literacy and Student Achievement in Texas Elementary Schools (10110), has been submitted to University of Oklahoma.

5/6/2009

Congratulations. Your submission, 10110 has cleared all of the necessary checks and will soon be delivered to ProQuest/UMI for publishing.

Regards,

University of Oklahoma, Graduate College Administrator

Culture of Cybersecurity

2009-04-27T20:55:00.002-05:00

Are we under cyberattack? Based upon the data that a full 70% of mail that reaches my district's mail server is spam - I'd have to say yes.

Furthermore, reading this Newsweek report on cybersecurity issues and the recent media attention to the Conficker worm I started to think about something Estonian officials are doing - working to create a culture of cybersecurity. What are Americans doing about this? What are public schools doing to teach students how to properly protect digital equipment? Is it even our responsibility? In an age where, in my opinion, schools should be focusing on skills to create digitally literate citizens then yes, I believe that schools should be teaching students how to protect themselves and their equipment online. But how? How do we create an environment where students feel confident enough to use the Internet but still be wary of potential pitfalls and how to deal with emails like this one:

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 3:39 PM
Subject: Mailbox Storage Limit Exceeded

Your mailbox has exceeded one or more size limits set by your
administrator. You may not be able to send or receive new mail until
your mailbox size is increased by your system administrator. To make
more space available, contact your system administrator through e-mail
with your Username:{ } and Password:{ } to increase your storage limit.

System Administrator
E-mail: systems@administrativos.com

You will continue to receive this warning message periodically if your
inbox size continues to exceed its size limit.

This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to
which it is addressed and contains information that is privileged and
confidential.

This message was received today by a user on my district's network. This is a pretty tricky situation for someone that is a low-end technology user. The email uses correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It looks official - and it mimics a real message auto-generated by MS Exchange servers (and perhaps Novell Groupwise?). How do you explain to someone that they just emailed the "keys to the kingdom" to a hacker in [insert random city/country here]?

In reflection, what am I doing to create a Culture of Cybersecurity?

Wubi Intaller - Ubuntu

2009-04-27T17:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I decided to try out Ubuntu - again. This time I decided to try the Wubi installer . I downloaded the executable and ran it in Windows XP - not too long later my computer was rebooting into Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex. It looks like its already been updated to install Jaunty Jackalope. Nevertheless, the process couldn't have been more simple - and I can still boot into Windows XP (if I should ever have the urge).

Two things I did add to my install were Avast antivirus and Guarddog firewall. Both were relatively easy to set-up and seem to be pretty powerful. Guarddog takes some configuration since by default everything - DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, etc. are blocked. A little experimentation will get everything going though.

Microsoft, is this a joke?

2009-04-20T22:44:00.001-05:00

I found a Microsoft grant program in a pamphlet recently that touted an opportunity to receive free operating system licenses from Microsoft for donated PCs. One of the stipulations was that the computer must possess a Pentium III or OLDER processor. Now if that was enough of a joke, the free operating system disk and license was for Windows 2000. I literally had to laugh out loud when I read this. First, I haven't seen a Pentium III in running condition in over two years and secondly, Microsoft is going to give me, for free, and operating system they don't even support any longer.

Delving deeper into the program, Microsoft Fresh Start for Donated Computers, I quickly discovered that the program closed as of March 27, 2009….less than a month ago. It has been replaced with a new program Community Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers (MAR). This program has almost as laughable stipulations:

1. If the computer does not posses an OEM license for Windows, it can be licensed for Windows 2000.
2. If the computer possesses an OEM license, for any version of Windows, it can be licensed for Windows XP.
3. Eligible recipients, but not academic entities, can obtain Office 2003 for donated computers.

The program's web page goes on to say it "was created to increase the number of usable PCs available to nonprofits, schools, and low-income families across the globe by reducing the cost of software to refurbishers. The Community MAR program also benefits the environment by giving new life to a significant number of computers that may otherwise be destined for landfills."

Now what really gets me going is that Microsoft is so engaged with making a buck that they miss out on the opportunity to provide free, tax-deductible goods and services to schools and non-profits that would eventually continue the cycle of Windows users in the marketplace. Sure most donated computers can't run Vista - many brand new computers can't handle the memory requirements either. But why do they bother with offering Windows 2000? At least provide Windows XP - and how come Academic institutions are not eligible? Aren't we teaching the future computer users of the world? What if we were using Ubuntu? Where would that leave Microsoft in five years? What about ten?

In reality, every spring when I add up the annual costs fo running Microsoft operating systems at my school district, the thought of running Ubuntu and Edubuntu across the district crosses my mind. What stops me? A thousand issues that would arise from such a deployment - but one day Microsoft, the annual costs associated with running your operating systems will outweigh those issues - and that will be the day that Microsoft stops receiving our taxpayer money. Even worse than that - my district will be training students to use non-Windows desktop environments; students who are and will be consumers.

Hello World! Redux

2009-04-19T23:11:00.001-05:00

After my sudden and unexpected departure from blogging in 2007, I finally am able to revive my blog, albeit under a slightly different name. I never intended to just disappear from the blogosphere and the community I was developing, but I never seemed to find the time to "pen" that parting post. My time has been consumed by my goal of earning a PhD - a dream that is soon to be a reality. My dissertation, titled The Examination of the Relationship of Digital Literacy and Student Achievement in Texas Elementary Schools has been submitted to my committee, and now I wait to go before them to defend my research

The fact that I only have one more $450+ payment to the university is almost as exciting as the doctoral cap, gown, and hood that arrived in the mail yesterday. I think that my wife is a bit jealous because my gown has University of Oklahoma crimson felt on it while the one she bought almost seven years ago is jet black. Perhaps it is a little silly, but I cannot wait until the day that one of my wife's students calls the house asking for Dr. Brown and I get to say "speaking" knowing full well that they don't mean me!

My dissertation defense is upcoming - so I won't be posting here very much before then, but I am already stocking up on things I want to talk about in the world of educational technology and its administration.

Frat Boy?

2007-11-15T21:22:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure where I pulled this from because I have seen it so many places lately, but here is my rating:

Get a Cash Advance

Now, do I just make that many typos that the computer cannot read my blog (hence the college rating) or am I still just a frat boy?

You can get your sites reading level here.

COPA v. COPPA

2007-11-15T21:09:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks back Ning announced advertisement-free social networks to educators, but soon educators found out that those with students under the age of 13 could not receive an ad-free site. This was discussed on a recent edition of EdTech Weekly (#52). Here is a snippet from the chat room while the hosts were discussing the issue:

[19:39] AliceMercer: Jeff: don't forget, no Ning for under 13 or it's in limbo

[19:39] sharonbetts: There is a bit of issue with Ning - they are balking with younger kids

[19:39] AliceMercer: YEP

The ensuing conversation between the hosts led to one of the most common errors when discussing two similarly named laws: the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

COPA is the law that is not in effect because it has an injunction against it. The injunction has been upheld several times over the years and just last spring the injunction was upheld again (.pdf) (but apparently it is not dead yet). This law was aimed at limiting children's access to the Internet and while never having been ruled unconstitutional, several judges have stated that it is a violation of a student's first amendment rights.

COPPA is the law that pertains to the situation that Ning has found themselves in. This is the law that prevents websites and companies doing business on the Internet from collecting identifiable information from persons under the age of 13. Ning is just try to keep themselves out of the same hot water that Girls Life Inc. and Hershey Foods Corporation found themselves in (among others).

The confusion of these two laws is quite common. I spent some time researching laws governing the Internet and it took me creating a presentation on the subject to discover the difference between them - only because I was double-checking my facts, in particular the names and acronyms of the laws. Since the government does not seem to feel like letting COPA go, it is probably only going to continue with the confusion.

DARE

2007-11-07T22:24:00.000-06:00

Vick Davis posted a Truth or Dare…and I took her up on it.

Do you spend any time talking about proper methods of e-mail? So what are proper methods of email? For me it depends to whom I am writing the message - as in all written documents, audience is key. The only thing I would like to banish is the use of the subject field as the message body…that's just annoying!
Do you have a facebook or myspace profile? Yes, Myspace…I had some students that encouraged me to create an account back before that school district blocked it. Muchas gracias to my AP Biology class for teaching me about social networking.
I someone wrote about you, is your name hyperlinkable? I have a blog (http://www.aswiftlytiltingplanet.com) and a wiki (http://edtecher.pbwiki.com)
Do you know the names of all of your students? I am a central office administrator now…I don't really have students - but back in the classroom, it was my policy to speak to every student every day.
If your students have computers in the classroom, do your students make ongoing eye contact? Not when my AP Biology students were Myspacing instead of using the computers for class.
Are you unafraid of what would happen if youtube, myspace, and facebook were allowed in your classroom? Afraid/unafraid is perhaps a bit strong of a word. There are some very nice possibilities to opening these technologies to student access at school.
Do your students collaboratively create documents? Back in the classroom, my AP Bio and Honors Physics classes ONLY created collaborative documents, projects, experiments. They had to be part of a scientific research team within a constructivist classroom.
Do you expect your students to complete their reading assignments? Only in AP Biology...
Do you assign papers and grade them after reading EVERY WORD? Can anyone truly say that they read every word? Some papers I certainly did (AP Biology Finals and Physics Concept Completion Papers), but not everything, everytime.
Have you ever given assignment and allowed students to create content on the public world wide web? Some of my AP Biology students loved the Wikipedia assignment.
Do you allow students to post content WITHOUT premoderation? Yes.
If you allow students to post online, do you subscribe to 100% of their content in your RSS reader? I never did that when I was in the classroom. If I were there now I would.
Do you comment on your student blogs? N/A
Is more than 50% of your content relevant "to life?" (Ask your students) Since I "control" the technology for a school district now, I'd like to think that yes, students do find my "content" relevant to life. But maybe they would call the filter ugly names and wish for open Wi-Fi access (one day it's coming…).
Do all of your students open their textbook for your class on a weekly basis? My physics students didn't even know there was a textbook. The AP Bio students were sick of reading the Campbell (6th Ed.).
Do you give reading assignments that include web content? I certainly did…that was the primary source of information for my physics students. It was important for the AP Bio students too.
Have your students been taught methodologies for assessing the validity of web documents? YES!
Do you give students projects where they must manage themselves, multitask, and deliver a comprehensive output that is relevant to your topic? You could pretty much say my physics classes were entirely run that way.
Have you changed anything significant about ALL of the courses you are teaching THIS YEAR? This year I am teaching professional development classes to the teachers in our district about the power and availability of Web 2.0 tools.
Do you care? Yes. I care about a great deal many things…I care that the Federal and state governments are trying to fix a broken education system with the wrong tool. I care that large numbers of high school students never graduate because they drop out or die from alcoholism and drug abuse. I care that our education system became so rooted in the past methods of educating children that it did not continue to evolve like the rest of our society. I care that so many parents let their children watch too much TV, stay up too late on a school night, not eat breakfast (because there is no food to eat), and go to school wearing the same clothes for three days in a row without taking a bathe or combing their hair. I care that we are destroying a generation of kids since we are so caught up in standardized tests because people in Washington D.C. think it’s a good idea . I care because we need to close the poverty gap, throw away the textbooks, and let our students create educational content in online social networking environments. I care. I care about kids…I care about education…I care about technology.

Does it matter if I passed or failed this dare? No, for me - it does not matter. What matters is that we as educators have failed, so far. I think Vicki's post from Monday is a good place to start.

Buzzed by Ganz

2007-11-07T20:11:00.000-06:00

Ganz, the creator and operator of the children's website WebKinz, has started allowing advertising from outside entities. Ever since my daughters got their first Webkinz a few months ago I have noticed the advertisements for other WebKinz merchandise spread throughout the site. I really have no problem with this since we bought the plush toys to begin with - how else are they supposed to increase sales? They already have an area within the game that cannot be accessed without buying additional products from the company (in the form of charms for a charm bracelet). A lot of the ads in the game are for other features within the game itself, many of them not costing anything extra to utilize, but recently a new ad has started appearing - an ad for Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie.

I not very happy with this decision by Ganz, but I guess it will provide additional learning opportunities for my kids - how to ignore advertisements (something they are not very good at yet).

Apparently you can get free honey and/or a bee costume for your WebKinz if you click on the ad.

Fear Mongering and a Chevy

2007-11-05T22:08:00.000-06:00

Turn on the television to the local news, national news, or CNN and you are likely to be told what you should be afraid of. RSS feeds from these same types of sources are often not any better. A recent posting on Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog highlights one of the favorite scapegoats of the media: social networking.

As adults we ought to be able to see through the fear propagated by the media outlets, but instead we are drawn to it - waiting to see what "could" be in your tap water that "might" cause cancer. Maybe we play into these fears because we want news to be entertaining? I'm not sure, but I do know that popular media is very good at making people scared of things they do not understand.

While cyberbullying and online predators are problems, they do not change the potential power of the technologies at our fingertips. Let me make the analogy of driving a car: people are not afraid to get into a car and drive to work, school, or shopping and we think nothing of traveling two-lane highways at speed of 70 miles per hour or more, but each time you pass a car going in the opposite direction, you are merely feet from a horrific death. You trust that the other person is not going to cross the center line. Despite the chances of that tragic end, we still utilize cars as our primary means of travel from point A to point B. Why? Because our culture has determined that a car is necessary. Do we travel by car completely unprotected? Absolutely not. We wear seatbelts and have airbags installed in our cars. We test the cars by crashing them into walls to see how well they do and car manufacturers tout those that receive high marks as reason to purchase. We also send our children to a special school to learn how to drive…

Educators must help the "late bloomers" (as opposed to early adopters) see the power in online technologies for creating collaboration, discourse, and learning. We must help them see online technologies to be as essential as the car in the driveway. We have to help them learn how to drive.

They need your vote!

2007-10-29T22:23:00.000-05:00

The teacher and class featured in my recent post It's a Low Tech Life has made it to the finals! Please go vote for that class!

You can vote here.