Words of Wisdom from the Technology Experts
Excerpts from School CIO's archive of CIO Profiles.
Compiled by Susie Meserve
Charles Thompson, CTO of the District of Columbia Public Schools, on getting good data:
“My definition of good information is that it must be accurate, concise, able to be manipulated, and timely to the user. But most districts have their data residing in individual silos. Right now we’re investing in applications that can easily “talk” to each other so data elements can feed from all the functional areas into a data warehouse that allows analysis to take place. Every application will be School Interoperability Framework certified—not just compliant, but actually certified—so if we decide we don’t like a partner, we can pull them out and put another SIF-certified module in without much disruption. My advice to other CIOs: Don’t build a data warehouse to meet NCLB, build it to capture the appropriate data for analysis.”
Bijaya Devkota, CIO of Maryland's Charles County Public Schools, on information technology:
“The bottom line for technology is that if it’s not used for the purpose of instruction, it’s all a waste of money. Most small school systems do not take good care of IT needs and decisions, and often IT is not well liked or well respected. We’re focused on IT here because it is critical to everything we are doing, and we can bring up any issues we have for very quick resolution. IT cannot be pushed aside, not if you want to make good use of your technology budget and improve the ability of your district to provide effective curriculum delivery now and in the future.”
Jim Hirsch, associate superintendent for technology at Plano Independent School District in Texas, on learning in the 21st century:
“Our students are very much into a world that is collaborative, and because of that, they tend to see things a little bit differently. They are exposed to a greater number of information resources than ever before, and whether it’s good or bad, they’ve come to expect that information to be available and free. Because of the Internet and its growth in their lifetimes, they’ve had the opportunity to share and remix information that none of us have had before. If nothing else, over the past 15 years, the rapid increase in understanding of learning in terms of brain-based research has taught us that our school systems have been successful for more than 100 years, but we also have to take into account the fact that information doubles every 2.5 years. We can’t just say that students will learn in the same environment [year after year].”
Sharnell Jackson, chief eLearning officer of the Chicago Public Schools, on virtual professional development:
“Why is classroom training for teachers and administrators declining while e-learning gains? I'll tell you why. Because there's a reduction in cost per person, increased reach, reduced time to train, increased consistency and compliance, and increased tracking and reporting [with e-learning]. So think about the benefits—it's immediate interaction and feedback, collaboration and social learning, reduced travel costs, and reduced time away from work and home. Those are huge benefits. Classroom training is like eating out at a restaurant: you need to make reservations. Asynchronous e-learning is like doing your own microwave dinner at home. But synchronous e-learning is like room service. Who doesn't like room service?”
Gerald Crisci, director of technology for Scarsdale Public Schools in Scarsdale, New York, on measuring return on investment:
“It’s easy to show what the impact of technology is on someone’s teaching, but it’s difficult to show a direct correlation between IT and student learning. In studies that I’ve seen, people talk about things like improving student attendance and improving student test scores. At the end of the day, that’s not really a compelling argument in terms of the value you put on technology. How does IT change what kids can do? How does it change how they learn? Those are the key questions.”
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
THE Drivers of Digital Relevance
Kids Today
Researcher Peter Grunwald believes students' increasing taste for technology will transform classrooms.
By Lindsay Oishi
from School CIO
Peter Grunwald is the founder and president of Grunwald Associates, a market research and strategic consulting firm that has been conducting industry-wide surveys on education and technology since 1995 . School CIO recently got Grunwald's perspective on why today's kids are more tech-savvy than ever, and what that means for educators.
Q. How do you think this generation of students is different from previous ones?
A. Kids are taking control of the media they use, whereas the model in previous generations was passive consumption. Students today are producing content themselves, which is reflected in the explosion of personal Web pages, profiles on social networking sites, blogging, podcasts and so on. The whole definition of a cool kid has changed. Now, cool kids are often smart about technology and use it to amplify their voices. From a school's standpoint, this has implications for the expectations about technology that kids bring with them to school.
Q. Your current study investigates students and social networking. What should CIOs be aware of in this domain?
A. There's a lot of focus on the dangers of the Internet and social networking sites in terms of kids connecting with people they ought not to or being exposed to inappropriate content. There is some of that, as there is in a variety of other media. There hasn't been much discussion yet of the educational benefits of social networking. It's hard to predict, but connecting kids in geographically diverse locations to collaborate on projects or learn about each other's realities and cultures can be useful. Multiplayer games and simulations also have educational value. The possibilities are going to become more obvious as the dangers are dealt with or, better yet, put into perspective.
Q. Do new technologies mean that old tools like television have less value?
A. We have found that kids who have the Internet at home are also watching TV, listening to the radio, and talking on the telephone. So the issue becomes how to deal with attention spans that are a product of multitasking. Sometimes that means that kids have shorter attention spans. Or it can mean that the student is used to being in control of where his attention is. That doesn't mean throw out the TV as a deliverer of instructional media. TV is just part of a broader package of technology. The more important matter is understanding the role of all kinds of media in engaging and reaching students.
Q. How can technology be used to engage students?
A. Technology needs to be seamlessly integrated into the classroom rather than making it something that students have to get up and walk to. If I'm playing a game or answering a quiz question, the fact that I'm calling on information that I may have on a handheld device, laptop, or on the Internet becomes less relevant as the technology becomes more robust. Technology as a discrete activity, separate from everyday learning, is going to become less important.
Q. Have you found that school districts use technology more for administrative rather than instructional purposes?
A. I wouldn't want to quantify one over the other. It's easier to figure out, "How can we more accurately record information such as attendance?" The benefits are more readily apparent than the benefits of using technology to help deliver instruction and engage students in the subject area. However, taxpayers and the public think first and mostly of technology's benefits in the classroom. Since taxpayers are significant stakeholders in how schools construct and spend their budgets, it's important to keep in mind that from the public's standpoint, using technology for instruction is the primary consideration.
Q. What advice do you have for CIOs based on your research?
A. What is often most surprising to school district leaders is the importance of supporting and encouraging parental participation in technology decision making. In some ways it's counterintuitive. It means one more set of stakeholders to deal with, which can complicate the decision-making process. But the data is pretty compelling that when it is done intelligently, there is a strong connection between the level of parental participation and the size and health of the technology operation as a whole. It's really all about buy-in. Whenever you are dealing with a constituency, if they feel that they have a stake in the decisions, they'll be much more likely to back technology initiatives.
A "little Somehting" for the Fear Monster in ALL of US!
We Have Nothing to Fear but Fear of Learning
by Marcia Conner
Could you learn more if fear didn't hold you back?
Some people believe they require fear to excel. They count on an adrenalin rush caused by wicked deadlines or overbearing colleagues (or by positive emotions) to push them forward.
Pressure can play a useful role, but stress that's powerful enough to cause fear ultimately shuts us down. Fear causes the amygdalae, regions of the brain, to release the stress chemicals cortisol and vasopressin, putting the body on alert, quickly shutting down higher-order thinking, long-term memory, and our capacity to perform.
Fear constrains performance no matter the setting. While some business leaders blame everything from unmotivated workers to outmoded training departments for lackluster productivity, fear of learning -- actually, fearing what's to be learned -- results in the greatest stagnation. When employees become uncomfortable about learning -- when fear influences how we do our jobs -- it affects the bottom line.
As a coach and educator I see five fears of learning play out: worry over others' opinions, anxiety around changing routines, panic over the possibility of failing, personal distrust around mastering a topic, and terror facing scary stuff. Each fear leads otherwise curious people to avoid exploration and to lose out on learning experiences.
Examine what you fear learning and find a way through.
Feeling Dumb
Do you fear people losing respect for you if you ask questions? Perhaps you believe you'll reveal a terrible secret: You're not as brilliant as you lead everyone to believe.
A colleague who lives near me in Virginia asked an electronics store clerk in Boston to explain how to use an iPod. Some 800 miles from home, she felt less frightened to appear dumb than she did at a local store. She confessed she was deeply uncomfortable recognizing she couldn't grasp a piece of modern life.
If fear of feeling dumb makes you uncomfortable, frame a half-empty answer with something lighthearted. "I thought I knew everything about this field. Great to know I have room to grow. Where can I learn more?" Once you shed a desire to know everything, pressure's off. You can learn from everyone.
More Work
If you expand your knowledge, do you fear people will expect you to put it to use? Learning more might mean extra work. Or it might change comfortable routines. Some people find this so unsettling that they simply stop learning.
Knowledge-transfer guru Steve Trautman (Peermentoring.com) admits he's fearful to learn about the technology in his own house, even though he worked in software for years. He fears that if he does learn about it, his genius wife (who already knows how to make repairs) might expect him to fix things once in while.
Discovery itself doesn't necessitate change. It provides us options to choose from: Do I continue working the same old way, do I want to change everything, or do I pick from what I learned to find a practice that suits me best now?
Failure retry abort
Are there daunting implications about what you yearn to learn? Perhaps your romanticized view of how things should work will be ruined if you discover more.
A gifted guy, on the leading edge of his field, resists marketing himself. He fears success might change him, unsure how he'd maintain his integrity if he became well-known. And he fears the possibility of finding out that people don't care about his work.
Marie Montessori recognized that seemingly simple activities require many steps. Rather than view the areas you fear in total, consider them as small individual parts. Start with a few small activities, a little at a time, then equilibrate, build your momentum, and overcome your fear.
Not Me
Do you fear you can't learn a subject, or maybe you can't learn enough of it? Schools often teach topics from beginning to end, leaving people with the mistaken impression we should (or could) master a full subject in the real world.
I serve on the PR committee for a small community group. A savvy interior designer has created our newsletter for years although she only knows desktop publishing basics. Certain she couldn't learn further, each month she muddled through. When we worked together on a recent newsletter, she made great strides. She recognized she didn't need to learn everything. Rather, she benefited from finding helpful resources. As she learned, she gained self-confidence to learn more.
Because of our unique learning styles and the way information is presented in schools, some of us mistakenly believe that when it comes to learning we're doomed. Not so! Out of school, we can try assorted approaches. If learning from a book bores you, try a simulation, or create for yourself a way to experience the information first-hand.
Danger Danger
Sometimes learning feels too perilous to pursue. Would identifying the creaky noise in the ceiling require you to enter a dark attic with bats? Do you always skip asking the opinion of a coworker who once berated the sweetest person in the office? Informal learning guru Jay Cross (Informal Learning), who has a policy to try almost anything once, tells me he's afraid to attempt rock climbing. He fears if he were having a wonderful time on a rock face, at some point he'd fail to find a crevice and he'd fall to his death. He doesn't want to learn enough to be able to try.
Imagined dangers can hold us back as much as real ones. The emotion center in the brain doesn't distinguish between what it remembers and what it imagines. Catastrophes you envision feel real. FEAR could be an acronym for F-fantasy, E- expectations, A-appearing, R-real. When we don't feel safe, physically or emotionally, we struggle to learn.
If you didn't fear bats or that coworker your queries might instead release brain chemicals that create anticipation, excitement, the thrill of discovery-or little reaction altogether.
Fear Forward
When you fear learning something new try these tactics:
- Say aloud exactly what you fear. "Bob scares me" or "What if I fail?" Daylight makes fear seem less menacing. Then remind yourself that your reaction is natural and you can choose to address it.
- Watch a highlight film. Visualize a mental movie staring you as a capable and competent person who knows he can endure under upsetting circumstances. Pull your clip from past experience or script it from your imagination.
- Walk around the block or down the hall. Physically moving forward helps you feel strong and fit to deal with the situation.
- Create a mantra. Say "I can handle it" to bypass the state triggering your fear.
- Talk about what's stopping you. Tell someone what you need to take action. Perhaps you could use a helping hand, an extra telephone call to check in, or a specific resource or referral.
- Adjust your reaction by unlearning it. While fears can make learning feel difficult, when we truly want to learn something it often seems effortless. Deliberate steps to unlearn our habits can open us to new ways of working.
Acknowledge fear by naming it, relate it to other experiences, recognize how a recent situation differs from past ones, and decide to try a different and new approach. When we gather our fears and then meet them, we can then work our way past them. If we do this enough, we change our feelings about our situation, and we can return to learning again.
Monday, January 15, 2007
An "APPLE" A Day!
Apple launches television box and reinvents telephone
Apple has launched an Apple TV box, which promises to do for the television what the iPod did for music. This was somewhat overshadowed by the eagerly anticipated announcement of an Apple iPhone, which virtually reinvents the telephone as an integrated mobile phone, music and video player, with a built-in web browser.
The Apple TV was previously dubbed the iTV, although Steve Jobs, the Apple chief executive, repeatedly referred to it by its former codename as he introduced the product in his keynote presentation at Macworld in San Francisco.
The diminutive Apple TV box connects to a television and allows wireless access to material available on a personal computer or the internet. It enables anyone to browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using a simple and intuitive remote control and on-screen interface. It is also seamlessly integrated with Apple iTunes, enabling selected movies and television shows to be streamed directly over the internet.
The Apple box features a high-definition HDMI output, although this only goes as high as 720p lines, as well as component video and analogue and digital audio.
The power supply is internal, so it can be connected directly to a wall socket without requiring an external transformer, but it does not provide powerline networking. It does however offer an Ethernet port and WiFi networking, including the new draft n standard.
It includes a 40GB hard drive, which is rather too small but no doubt larger versions will follow. It also has an Intel processor, which provides the power for the striking user interface.
The beautiful interface is simply white on black, but is otherwise reminiscent of an iPod, and is typically elegant, sophisticated and simple, with zooming animations.
Apple TV offers access to movies, television shows, music and podcasts through iTunes. It can automatically synchronise material from a designated personal computer on the network and stream from up to five computers. This can include visitors, who can connect their machines wirelessly simply by entering a personal identification code number displayed on the television screen.
Photos can also be easily displayed on a large widescreen display. As Steve Jobs noted, modern digital cameras as are all essentially better than high definition. The display will be limited to 1280x720 resolution, which is less than one million pixels, but it is possible to pan and zoom over images in smooth slideshows.
“We think this is pretty cool,” said Steve Jobs. “I’m really excited by it. We think this is going to be something really quite special.”
The Apple TV will be priced at $299 and will begin shipping in February. While there are many devices that promise to connect the television to a computer network, media centers and similar products have yet to really take off, largely because they are too complex to set up and too difficult to use. Apple could dominate the category with its characteristic consumer appeal and ease of use.
In the long term, devices such as this could begin to bypass cable television operators, with their proprietary set-top boxes, opening up the television to programming that could come from anywhere.
Apple is well placed to enter this market. In addition to two billion songs sold so far on iTunes, it has already sold 50 million television shows and over a million movies.
iPhone
The real excitement, however, was reserved for the long-anticipated announcement of an integrated mobile phone and music player.
“Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone and here it is,” said Steve Jobs, showing an image of an iPod with a rotary dial. He was, of course, only kidding.
The Apple iPhone is undoubtedly a breakthrough device, combining a revolutionary touch screen mobile phone with a music and video player and internet communications. Apple claims that it is five years ahead of anything else on the market and indeed it looks very futuristic.
Apple has developed and patented a gestural touchscreen interface it calls multitouch, which does away with the need for buttons or a special stylus. It scrolls though lists with simple intuitive gestures, rather like a touchpad.
The touchscreen automatically switches off when you bring it to your ear. The 3.5 inch widescreen display automatically detects whether it is in portrait or landscape orientation and it can show true widescreen movies either zoomed full screen or with borders top and bottom. An ambient light sensor adjusts the image to save power.
Apple has taken its usual innovative approach to user interface design to understand how people actually want to use mobile phones, to create an enjoyable user experience.
The phone itself is a quad-band GSM and EDGE device—Apple plans to make 3G phones in the future—and comes complete with WiFi and Bluetooth.
The iPhone runs the OS X operating system and features desktop class applications, including a special version of the Apple Safari web browser which allows full web pages to be displayed and navigated.
Apple is teaming up with Google to offer search and mapping and with Yahoo! to offer free push email, to compete with devices such as the Blackberry.
Steve Jobs was joined on stage by Eric Schmit, the chief executive of Google, who also joins the Apple board, and by Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo!
The iPhone will be available in the United States from June with Cingular as an exclusive partner and a list price of $499 for a 4GB model and $599 for an 8GB version. It will be available in Europe from the last quarter of 2007 and in Asia the following year.
Apple is aiming to attract a 1% share in 2008—around 10 million units—although it may be expected to exceed that figure.
The iPhone is definitely desirable, but it introduces a number of technical innovations which are not without risk. If it succeeds, it could indeed redefine our view of the mobile phone.
Steve Jobs was evidently excited at his keynote presentation. He said he had been waiting two and a half years for this day and said he had not slept a wink the night before. He compared the launch of the iPhone in importance to that of the iPod in 2001 and the original Mac computer in 1984.
It could be even more significant. With around a billion mobile phones sold last year, the market significantly overshadows that of personal computers, portable music players and games consoles combined.
As a sign of convergence and its emergence as a media and consumer electronics brand, the company is even dropping the word computer from its name, to become simply Apple Inc.
CATCH the DIGITAL WAVE......."Clip and Sling!"
Sling helps users share video clips over the internet
CBS television is to trial a new system from Sling Media to enable users to share short segments of programming using a system known as Clip+Sling. The president of CBS was joined by the co-founder of Sling Media to give a demonstration in a keynote presentation at the CES convention in Las Vegas.
“It’s great to be here among all you wikis and mash-ups and avatars,” said Leslie Moonves, the president of CBS Corporation, trying perhaps a little too hard to appear cool. His message was: “There’s no such thing as old or new media anymore. We’re just media.”
He described a symbiotic relationship between the growth of broadband and the transition to digital television, saying “at CBS we’re embracing it big-time.” Sharing the stage with YouTube and Sling Media provided some evidence of that.
“The lesson is those who don’t get in front of the parade end up marching behind it.” He said: The place for any media company serious about the future is right up front, ripping, burning, and mashing up the new beat we’re all marching to.”
“That capability sometimes comes from the most unexpected places, from services that in the past might have been seen as disruptors instead of enablers,” he said. “Part of our job as a major media company is to educate ourselves as to what the audience is capable of,” he suggested, introducing Blake Krikorian, the co-founder of Sling Media.
Sling pioneered the concept of placeshifting and as other companies have moved in to compete it is continuing to innovate around the concept. The popularity of video sharing sites such as YouTube has clearly not gone unnoticed. Capturing and uploading a clip still requires some effort, so Sling Media has decided to make it even easier.
“Now, with our new Clip and Sling functionality I can capture video from my favourite television programming, upload it, and send it to a friend in under 60 seconds,” explained the chairman and chief executive of Sling Media.
Clip+Sling allows Slingbox owners to share material directly from live or recorded television. While customers will need a Slingbox to publish clips, the content posted to an interactive portal will be accessible by anyone. It is designed to make it very easy for those with a Slingbox to share video, while enabling networks and content owners to build communities around their programming. The feature will be built into future versions of the SlingPlayer software.
Sling Media also announced its SlingCatcher product at CES. A Slingbox in reverse, it enables material from a Slingbox, or anything that can be viewed or played on a personal computer, to be received over a wired or wireless network connection and displayed on a television. The SlingCatcher can also download or stream content directly from the internet and display it on a television without the need for a personal computer.
Sling Media is discussing partnership opportunities with large and small content providers to enable them to deliver their programming directly to the television via the SlingCatcher.
Traditional media companies may previously have viewed the sharing and redistribution of their programming as anathema but they are clearly also keen to experiment themselves and embrace the opportunities that it presents.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Update on an Old Theme!
Hope to SEE everyone on January 12, 2007!
Six ed-tech trends to watch in 2007
Service-oriented architecture, ‘cloud computing’ among the developments sure to have an impact on educational technology in the coming year
By Gregg W. Downey, Editor, eSchool News
December 22, 2006
Educational technology at last has progressed to the point where differentiated, individualized instruction clearly is possible for students anywhere on the planet. It can be delivered at any time, in just the right form, with whatever frequency might be required. This has long been the dream of educational technologists. And today the dream has come true--at least in terms of the technology. The barriers to universal access are no longer technical; they're political and financial.
So while governments and society grapple with the challenges of making what's already technically feasible universally available, let's take a look at what's next on the ed-tech horizon. Here are six emerging ed-tech trends I think could have a significant impact on schools and colleges in 2007.
Trend No. 1: The leveling power of the World Wide Web
Call it community-generated content, social networking, or--if you're a young technology company pitching yourself to venture capitalists--Web 2.0. Whatever you call it, it's the trend toward end-users, consumers, teachers, and students creating content for themselves and their peers. This self-generated content can be delivered in writing, in audio files, or in video clips.
No longer need you be a major motion picture studio to create a box-office smash. You don't need a radio station to be a popular disc jockey. You don't need a television network to create a video that can be seen literally by millions. Why, you don't even need a rich daddy anymore to become an overnight billionaire--or close to it.
Here's a $1.6 billion case in point: The three young men who founded YouTube.
YouTube, of course, is the internet site that allows anyone to watch or post videos, everything from stupid pet tricks to the president's State of the Union address. In February 2005, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim--YouTube's founding trio--threw a dinner party here in San Francisco. They spent most of the evening shooting digital videos and photos of themselves. Next day, they wanted to post these to the internet. Well, posting the digital photos was no problem, but the three young men discovered it was nearly impossible to post their party videos.
Being resourceful lads and computer geeks, they had the problem whipped by the spring of last year. They created a site that let average computer-using videographers post their work without having to download special software. And so it was that the first 18-second YouTube video went up on the internet on April 23, 2005. The video shows Karim standing with elephants at the zoo. "The cool thing about these guys," intones the young narrator, referring to the elephants, "is that they have really, really, really long trunks. And that's cool. And that's pretty much all."
With those immortal words was YouTube launched. It was opened to the public several days later. Steve Chen was financing the startup with his credit cards.
A couple of months ago, Chen and Hurley agreed to a secret meeting with Google acquisition attorney David Drummond at a Denny's restaurant halfway between the Google campus in Mountain View, Calif., and the YouTube offices in a loft above a pizza joint in San Mateo, Calif. At Denny's in two clandestine meetings, Google executives and YouTube's three founders worked out a deal. Google would acquire the video site for a reported $1.65 billion in Google stock.
Now, Steve Chen can pay off his credit cards and can even finish earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois.
YouTube is just the latest and most spectacular example of how the democratization of the internet is about to change everything. For education, it seems to me, the populism inherent in the internet means one key thing: Call it student-centered learning, project-based education, constructivist pedagogy--all these related education philosophies and movements finally have a medium to give them genuine momentum.
YouTube also illustrates the leveling affect the internet is having on technology and business. This has big implications for schools and colleges as they seek to prepare their students for life and work in the 21st century. It's notable, too, that Google figures into this rags-to-riches tale, because Google is a central player in another emerging trend affecting education.
And that brings me to . . .
Trend No. 2: Cloud computing
About 20 years ago, all anybody could talk about was the concept of client/server computing. This is the model most of us still know best--a central server or servers linked through a network to a set of client computers, all running proprietary software--like Windows, OS X, Linux, and so on.
It would appear that the era of client/server computing is about to end. Back in 1993, Google's current CEO, Eric Schmidt, was the chief technology officer for Sun Microsystems. At the time, he made a prescient prediction. He said, "When the network becomes as fast as the microprocessor, the computer hollows out and spreads across the network."
Sun streamlined Schmidt's prediction into a memorable tagline: "The network is the computer."
Not too many people back then knew exactly what Schmidt meant by that. In fact, the world at large is only just beginning to get it now. The light is dawning as the concepts of "service-oriented architecture" and "web services" begin to wend their way into the contemporary lexicon. "The premise," Schmidt says, "is that the data services and the architecture should be on the servers."
By data services and architecture, he means computer processes and protocols. To greatly oversimplify it, you don't use a word processing application like Word 2003, for instance. Instead, you call up, from a remote server, a function you might need. Such a function might be the process that makes a word appear in boldface on your computer screen.
Furthermore, the server from which you call up the boldface process needn't be on your own computer anymore--or even in your IT department.
Here's where Schmidt gets poetic.
"We call it 'cloud computing,'" he proclaims. "The servers should be in a cloud somewhere. And if you have the right kind of browser or the right kind of access, it doesn't matter whether you have a PC or a Mac or a mobile telephone or a Blackberry--or new devices still to be developed--you can get access to the cloud."
What's all this about?
Google, along with Microsoft, Yahoo, Ask.com, and others, have positioned themselves for a new era of data management via the internet, which brings me to . . .
Trend No. 3: Service-oriented architecture
In a general sense, service-oriented architecture--or SOA--is a software solution intended to enable the enterprise to organize and marshal multiple processes. With SOA, software applications no longer are massive bundles of functions and processes. Instead, applications are composed by assembling modular services. A service, remember, is a single software function--such as cancel school bus route. It can be executed on demand by any system, without regard to its operating system, platform, programming language, or geographic location.
What's revolutionary about SOA is not the concept itself, which has been around for a while, but the fact that it now can be implemented via the World Wide Web. Just as web pages load on any platform, web services work the same regardless of platform, provided they are built using universal standards.
Developers build composite applications by interconnecting, or "orchestrating," services in a process flow. This flow can then, itself, be structured as a service. Developing such composite web services is often called Business Process Management. Standard SOA tools streamline the task of building service-orchestration models--similar to creating a flow chart.
SOA will have a major affect on the education enterprise, just as it will on all other types of enterprises, but some of the same concepts also have the potential to revolutionize instruction. And that brings me to . . .
Trend No. 4: The gathering SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)
A close cousin of service-oriented architecture is the Sharable Content Object Reference Model, or SCORM.
SCORM is a collection of standards and specifications adapted from multiple sources to allow for the interoperability, accessibility, and reusability of digital learning materials: everything from a video clip illustrating how cells divide to a PowerPoint explication of a sonnet.
The SCORM specifications--now in edition three--are becoming increasingly important for ensuring that digital content can be integrated into any learning management system (LMS) software, regardless of its manufacturer. What's more, SCORM is opening the door for the creation of "digital repositories," or collections of sharable, reusable online content that educators can search through to find items they can incorporate into their own instruction.
Though SCORM might sound complicated, its desired outcome is quite simple--to facilitate the sharing and reusability of digital learning materials among educators. Educators hope the untethering of content from its method of delivery will be a big outcome of SCORM.
Toward that end, educators should consider building SCORM compliance into their specifications when evaluating and purchasing online content and delivery systems. Virtually all of the major LMS solutions used by schools today comply with the standard. Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and Pathlore, for instance, all have been certified as SCORM-compliant, and the open-source system called Moodle is on its way toward compliance.
Having a single set of standards on which to build content from the ground up--standards that allow educators to easily share and reuse content, or take the best elements from this content and tailor it to meet their own unique needs--has the potential to revolutionize instruction.
Before, with textbooks, you had to offer students information in more or less the same way it was put together by the textbook company. Now, with SCORM, you can assemble plug-and-play learning objects in a way that matches the needs of the learner.
Curriculum objects might liberate education from the rigid structure of textbooks, but nothing anytime soon is likely to take the place of an excellent teacher or an inspiring professor. And that brings me to . . .
Trend No. 5: Telepresence and anytime, anywhere education
Imagine a conference room with six chairs, three on each side of a conference table. Envision a clear glass panel running down the center of the table.
Walk into this room while a high-level parlay is under way, and you'd see six executives deep in conversation. But here's the catch: Only three of them are physically present. The three participants closest to you actually are in the room--in Chicago, say. The others are in San Jose, Calif., but their life-size, high-definition images are on the glass partition in the Chicago conference room.
According to an industry insider, unsuspecting visitors entering a room during a telepresence conference have at first been unaware that all the participants were not physically present:
"A person coming late to the conference and standing near the back of the room didn't realize a telepresence conference was going on until someone from the remote location said, 'Hey, Jim, could you move into camera range so we can see you.'"
The illusion reportedly is heightened because both locations use matching furnishings. Other elements that enhance the effect are that participants appear to make direct eye contact with one another, the streaming video is smooth and flawless, and the audio is perfectly matched to lip movement.
Whether schools and universities would be willing to pay for a full-fledged telepresence capability is unclear. But, in time, the potential for education could be substantial.
Leading universities already are making course content available over the internet, and medical schools are presenting in high-definition clinical demonstrations via Internet2. Large K-12 districts increasingly rely on video conferencing for management meetings and professional development.
As Cisco chief John Chambers puts it: "Video communications is the most effective way to communicate there is."
It seems to me telepresence is arriving just in time--just as the internet is underscoring the inter-relatedness of our world as never before. And that brings me to the final item on my list . .
Trend No. 6: 21st-century learning
An organization called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a program designed to help educators prepare their students for the future. A consortium of leading schools, education associations, and corporations, the Partnership is working to put America on notice: Our students are falling behind in the world. America is losing its edge. Action is required now to reverse the decline in the ability of this country to compete in the global economy. Every child in America needs 21st-century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers, and leaders in the 21st century. Specifically, according to the Partnership, our students need:
Information and communication skills;
Thinking and problem-solving skills;
Interpersonal and self-direction skills;
Global awareness;
Financial, economic, and business skills; and
Civic literacy.
You can learn more about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills at their web site, which is well worth a visit.
The confluence of these six trends--the flattening influence of the internet, cloud computing, SOA, SCORM, telepresence, and the drive for 21st-century skills--makes it entirely possible to ensure our children are well prepared for the rest of this century. It really is possible now to bring the finest teachers and professors, instructional styles customized to the needs of individual learners, and best-of-breed curricula into the service of all our students.
Gathering up the will and resources needed to do it would make for a happy New Year, indeed.
Links:
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://21stcenturyskills.org
"Gathering SCORM could transform eLearning" (eSN Online, April 2006)
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6249
"'Telepresence' adds realism to video conferencing" (eSN Online, October 2006)
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6661
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Something on the INNOVATION PROCESS
Folks:
How to Innovate Faster, Cheaper, Better
At Space Exploration Technologies, innovation is measured in small, incremental improvements. Here's how they do it.
From: Issue 91| February 2005 | Page 77 By: Jennifer Reingold
Stinginess Is a Virtue
Founder Elon Musk asks employees to come up with creative ways to save money. Cutting out middlemen, rooting through industrial junkyards, manufacturing a part in-house rather than buying it: Anything goes.
Borrow From the Best
Some engineers believe that everything they work on must be original. At SpaceX, the goal is to take good ideas from anywhere and improve on them. The company has borrowed ideas from automobiles and banks, and modified and improved 40-year-old technology in its own industry.
Speedy, Not Sloppy
SpaceX's commitment to fast prototyping and testing of parts and processes gives it an edge on its competitors. At SpaceX, you make something as fast as possible and then "test the hell out of it," modifying on the fly rather than waiting until it's close to perfect.
Find the Young and the Restless
Musk thinks a small group of smart, motivated people will always outperform a large group. So he scours the world to find the bored and the brilliant. Virtually all employees "own" a piece of the rocket, says Gwynne Shotwell, VP of business development, and they can call the launch off if they're worried about that piece.
Best,
Jim
Governors Summit 2005 / Follow-up Articles
Folks:
A couple of follow-ups to the Governors Summit 2005.
Summit Fuels Push to Improve (reinvent) High Schools
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/03/09/26summit.h24.html?rale=l4RcsgF70mPtCaS2ek8aL%2FHim3s5xG%2FF3CajVDMnTB%2F7rwDD3eXZYS8C3QVSanHw1AVk29jbQRIO%0AWwxE2Fmwdp5ere2Jhr%2FnmpVsfwBwrS1d93iCKqpCgfKC6m%2BGXTB57byKbC%2FxXlzVf5KN%2Ff%2B%2FiC8c%0AOGA7ZSmsNfC48Bai4g%2BGwudoEVM10OkTBuz9ADset2C2yMccHJbjnk8O1T3fjy8cOGA7ZSmsPtzg%0Ao%2FrzvN9bPaaGAUrzXMlyX00o5kiZ1KTOmt7uWdWSmv%2BYUnFzcnY7n0izFu6v5kl9LBPKzi2Xx5%2BD%0ApgLrkrqeEW0%2Fk%2BFQa9wUQyvcTzuzNz1Jj0cKXw5bDETYWbB2CJofU4EKdvaEq1TTqUHXgdSVBzUT%0Aqwxn5NNbFJzJ0iEohrglxQLzhA5bDETYWbB2nl6t7YmGv%2BdC9fpb3LoayZK%2BbDCgyemfv9sAsdf4%0A%2FwOHsYa2Y1wQxXGENAtTcBxrxgf9nEhov82mAE5GC82ob1g%2BkCV6dXqHh3V1sl%2BNFkt8SPY5khM4%0AYUpV%2FBERb8A0jR2uPgpaRd5Df7L9230sfw%2BvdcSel4vmAS%2BI6TR3ZLyYEv3QnULbB%2BZ1pWEhmI9c%0AS7w7eUsA0EwZ%2BJNb1w0zZqOBb3kZ2X8qc%2FXN10IiN8Bru7G6xPqRYU49nY0nmVl08ulte5t6kzE%3D
FIRST THINGS FIRST / Variations on a Theme / MODEL
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/03/09/26firstthings.h24.html
Best,
Jim
A couple of follow-ups to the Governors Summit 2005.
Summit Fuels Push to Improve (reinvent) High Schools
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/03/09/26summit.h24.html?rale=l4RcsgF70mPtCaS2ek8aL%2FHim3s5xG%2FF3CajVDMnTB%2F7rwDD3eXZYS8C3QVSanHw1AVk29jbQRIO%0AWwxE2Fmwdp5ere2Jhr%2FnmpVsfwBwrS1d93iCKqpCgfKC6m%2BGXTB57byKbC%2FxXlzVf5KN%2Ff%2B%2FiC8c%0AOGA7ZSmsNfC48Bai4g%2BGwudoEVM10OkTBuz9ADset2C2yMccHJbjnk8O1T3fjy8cOGA7ZSmsPtzg%0Ao%2FrzvN9bPaaGAUrzXMlyX00o5kiZ1KTOmt7uWdWSmv%2BYUnFzcnY7n0izFu6v5kl9LBPKzi2Xx5%2BD%0ApgLrkrqeEW0%2Fk%2BFQa9wUQyvcTzuzNz1Jj0cKXw5bDETYWbB2CJofU4EKdvaEq1TTqUHXgdSVBzUT%0Aqwxn5NNbFJzJ0iEohrglxQLzhA5bDETYWbB2nl6t7YmGv%2BdC9fpb3LoayZK%2BbDCgyemfv9sAsdf4%0A%2FwOHsYa2Y1wQxXGENAtTcBxrxgf9nEhov82mAE5GC82ob1g%2BkCV6dXqHh3V1sl%2BNFkt8SPY5khM4%0AYUpV%2FBERb8A0jR2uPgpaRd5Df7L9230sfw%2BvdcSel4vmAS%2BI6TR3ZLyYEv3QnULbB%2BZ1pWEhmI9c%0AS7w7eUsA0EwZ%2BJNb1w0zZqOBb3kZ2X8qc%2FXN10IiN8Bru7G6xPqRYU49nY0nmVl08ulte5t6kzE%3D
FIRST THINGS FIRST / Variations on a Theme / MODEL
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/03/09/26firstthings.h24.html
Best,
Jim
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Agenda OSTC/NW Advisory Council Sub-committee
AGENDA
Welcome & Introductions
Review: Minutes of meeting 2-10-2005 (posted on blog-site)
Blog-site / updates
Brief Review: Global Trade Mission 3-3,4,5, 2005 / Paul Briercheck & Student Participants
Building Plan / Updates / Tom Smith
*Visit: To McMath-Hulbert Observatory / Tom Smith
Watershed Intiatives
* Deer & Parke Lake
*Environthon Challenge Competition
* Grant opportunities
Videoconferencing Initiative / Update
Environmental Technology Consultants / Jim Ridgway
* Green Machine Initiative
*Waste Management OCTC/NW Soloutions
National Governors Summit on reinvention of High Schools and K-12 Education Report
* http://www.2005Summit.org/
End-Game / Project Based / Student Driven Initiatives
Summary Discussion
Adjourn!
Welcome & Introductions
Review: Minutes of meeting 2-10-2005 (posted on blog-site)
Blog-site / updates
Brief Review: Global Trade Mission 3-3,4,5, 2005 / Paul Briercheck & Student Participants
Building Plan / Updates / Tom Smith
*Visit: To McMath-Hulbert Observatory / Tom Smith
Watershed Intiatives
* Deer & Parke Lake
*Environthon Challenge Competition
* Grant opportunities
Videoconferencing Initiative / Update
Environmental Technology Consultants / Jim Ridgway
* Green Machine Initiative
*Waste Management OCTC/NW Soloutions
National Governors Summit on reinvention of High Schools and K-12 Education Report
* http://www.2005Summit.org/
End-Game / Project Based / Student Driven Initiatives
Summary Discussion
Adjourn!
Governors Summit on High School & K-12 Education Reinvention
Folks:
Everything you wanted to know and more can be accessed at;
http://www.2005summit.org/
Best,
Jim
Everything you wanted to know and more can be accessed at;
http://www.2005summit.org/
Best,
Jim
Monday, March 07, 2005
Volunteers to protect watershed solicited
Folks:
Volunteers sought to protect our lakes, rivers / Okland Press 3-7-2005
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/030705/loc_20050307017.shtml
Best,
Jim
Volunteers sought to protect our lakes, rivers / Okland Press 3-7-2005
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/030705/loc_20050307017.shtml
Best,
Jim
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Sol Conference / Lives on!
Folks:
A little something that evolved from the Sol Conference 2004 and the message the students and teachers who partcipated deliverd and continue to aspire to.
Best,
Jim
Students offer ideas on education
"One student says teachers need to interact more, rather than just talk"
Of The Daily Oakland Press
About 50 Pontiac high school students demonstrated Wednesday that, like politicians, school administrators, teachers and parents, they too have a few ideas about education reform.
"We don't want the teacher to just stand in front of us and talk our heads off," said Pontiac Central junior Jessica Griggs. "We want to interact."
Griggs and other students shared ideas about helping students achieve as part of a day-long event sponsored by the Pontiac-based National Civility Center.
Established in 2000, the nonprofit organization works to help individuals and institutions advocate for a broad array of improvements in their communities.
Executive Director Kent Roberts said he organized Wednesday's event, as well as three others statewide, to prepare for a series of education reform conferences being organized by Michigan State University, the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals and the Michigan Department of Education.
"I told them that I'd be happy to take part in that, but on one condition - that I go to the experts first," Roberts said.
The former teacher noted that high school students can offer insightful and even profound ideas about improving student achievement - some that mirror suggestions being made by politicians and education experts.
"You've got to have faith that they will come up with the same recommendations, but they'll frame it in a better context," Roberts said. "It will be depoliticized."
Pontiac Central High School senior Kayla Henke said schools need to ensure a supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.
"If you feel accepted or if you feel like you're going to be laughed at if you get something wrong, that affects how much you're going to participate," she explained.
Students also suggested: Educators and politicians need to place less emphasis on standardized test outcomes; all teachers should demonstrate a passion for their work; and society, in general, should appreciate that different students learn in different ways.
A number of students said the responsibility of making academic achievement gains also lies in the hands of students themselves.
"I feel if more students were involved in school ... more teachers would want to put more into their work," said Meosha Lewis, a Bethune Alternative High School junior.
Roberts said a number of students who offered their thoughts on Wednesday will be invited to make presentations at coming education reform conferences. Those events are scheduled later this month and in April.
Click here to return to story:
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/030305/loc_20050303026.shtml
A little something that evolved from the Sol Conference 2004 and the message the students and teachers who partcipated deliverd and continue to aspire to.
Best,
Jim
Students offer ideas on education
"One student says teachers need to interact more, rather than just talk"
Of The Daily Oakland Press
About 50 Pontiac high school students demonstrated Wednesday that, like politicians, school administrators, teachers and parents, they too have a few ideas about education reform.
"We don't want the teacher to just stand in front of us and talk our heads off," said Pontiac Central junior Jessica Griggs. "We want to interact."
Griggs and other students shared ideas about helping students achieve as part of a day-long event sponsored by the Pontiac-based National Civility Center.
Established in 2000, the nonprofit organization works to help individuals and institutions advocate for a broad array of improvements in their communities.
Executive Director Kent Roberts said he organized Wednesday's event, as well as three others statewide, to prepare for a series of education reform conferences being organized by Michigan State University, the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals and the Michigan Department of Education.
"I told them that I'd be happy to take part in that, but on one condition - that I go to the experts first," Roberts said.
The former teacher noted that high school students can offer insightful and even profound ideas about improving student achievement - some that mirror suggestions being made by politicians and education experts.
"You've got to have faith that they will come up with the same recommendations, but they'll frame it in a better context," Roberts said. "It will be depoliticized."
Pontiac Central High School senior Kayla Henke said schools need to ensure a supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.
"If you feel accepted or if you feel like you're going to be laughed at if you get something wrong, that affects how much you're going to participate," she explained.
Students also suggested: Educators and politicians need to place less emphasis on standardized test outcomes; all teachers should demonstrate a passion for their work; and society, in general, should appreciate that different students learn in different ways.
A number of students said the responsibility of making academic achievement gains also lies in the hands of students themselves.
"I feel if more students were involved in school ... more teachers would want to put more into their work," said Meosha Lewis, a Bethune Alternative High School junior.
Roberts said a number of students who offered their thoughts on Wednesday will be invited to make presentations at coming education reform conferences. Those events are scheduled later this month and in April.
Click here to return to story:
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/030305/loc_20050303026.shtml
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
It Speaks for Itself!
Folks:
Failures in Science Infrastructure Threaten U.S.
Leadership
The United States' poor performance in science and math has placed the country in danger of losing its competitive edge in the global marketplace, says a new study by the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), a joint effort by the business and higher education communities to analyze U.S. math and science performance.
Raytheon Co. Chairman William Swanson, co-chair of Forum's Initiative on Mathematics and Science Education, called the latest data gathered by the Forum "cause for deep concern."
The report found that even though the U.S. is experiencing an undergraduate enrollment boom, enrollment in countries with emerging economies are growing faster, similar to the U.S. after World War II.
In China, enrollment rates are expanding at 10 times the rate of the U.S. Two-thirds of Chinese students earn math, science or engineering degrees, compared to about one-third of American students, BHEF said.
The BHEF report recommended long-term tactics to alleviate the teacher shortage. The report challenged business and education leaders to commit to collaborative roles to develop seamless state systems of education extending from pre-kindergarten to higher education and the workplace.
The full report can be downloaded from
http://www.bhef.com
Failures in Science Infrastructure Threaten U.S.
Leadership
The United States' poor performance in science and math has placed the country in danger of losing its competitive edge in the global marketplace, says a new study by the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), a joint effort by the business and higher education communities to analyze U.S. math and science performance.
Raytheon Co. Chairman William Swanson, co-chair of Forum's Initiative on Mathematics and Science Education, called the latest data gathered by the Forum "cause for deep concern."
The report found that even though the U.S. is experiencing an undergraduate enrollment boom, enrollment in countries with emerging economies are growing faster, similar to the U.S. after World War II.
In China, enrollment rates are expanding at 10 times the rate of the U.S. Two-thirds of Chinese students earn math, science or engineering degrees, compared to about one-third of American students, BHEF said.
The BHEF report recommended long-term tactics to alleviate the teacher shortage. The report challenged business and education leaders to commit to collaborative roles to develop seamless state systems of education extending from pre-kindergarten to higher education and the workplace.
The full report can be downloaded from
http://www.bhef.com
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