Monthly Archives: September 2011

Sep 16 2011

What’s New from Ontario Edubloggers?

It’s a new school year and Ontario Edubloggers are hard at it.  Here are some of the things that caught my eye this week.

From Consultants and SATs
My friends, Shelley Pike and her colleague Andrea are hitting the ground running in their roles as Mathematics Instructional Coaches.  They’re there to help those who are ready with innovative ways of looking at Mathematics. 

I first got wind of this program when on the OSAPAC Committee with Ross Isenegger from Near North.  We were really focussed on licensing of appropriate software – in this case it was The Geometer’s Sketchpad to help students get up close and personal with mathematics.  The program has evolved over the years in some really cool directions.  Read more about TIPS4RM here.

From K-12 Teachers
I really like what Sylvia Duckworth shares regularly on Twitter.  She’s very active there and so it comes as no surprise that she has a pretty impressive digital footprint.

If you’re a Core French teacher and interested in bringing and sharing how technology makes a significant difference, then you’ll be wanting to check out her resources.  Sylvia is a big fan of AIM for learning French and writes and shares resources to help with that.

From Principals, VPs, and Administrators
I’ll admit this – you can’t skim through a blog post from Peter Skillen.  There’s no quick route to his posts and his latest one is no exception.  Just in time for the new school year, he asks a question that anyone who uses collaborative projects should be asking "What does it mean to co-construct?"

In typical Skillen fashion, he goes about sharing his thoughts about the question from a very scholarly perspect, all the time asking more questions to force the reader to do some serious thinking by the end of the post.  Take some time to read and understand Peter’s slant on co-constructing.

From Trustees and Higher Education
Over the summer, apparently Alana Callan was part of a team that redid their introductory computer studies course.   In this post, she describes the thought processes that went into the revision to the course.  It sounds like it was quite a challenge.  Their efforts were gathered in a wiki although it’s behind a login wall.  My first reaction was to ask for access but then I thought it might be, as my daughter says, "creepy".

It makes you wonder just how "messy" the changes will be.  I wish them all the best with the new design and I hope that things are resolved soon so that Alana can get back at it and see the results of her summer efforts.

Check out these blogs and more from great Ontario Edubloggers here or here.  With the new school year, there may be some new blogs come to life.  If you know of one, please encourage the blogger to fill out the form to be part of this collection and also the list of Ontario Edubloggers.

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Sep 16 2011

OTR Links for 09/16/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sep 15 2011

The Damage

Yesterday was a day trip and the destination was north to Southampton to visit some friends.  The route led us through Goderich, near our home town of Clinton.  Days after the tornado went through Goderich, most of the town is now open to traffic although the cleanup as a result of the damage continues.

Pictures can’t do justice to the damage that was done to buildings in the town.  What a devastating event.

We took a few pictures on our way through but this is the image that has the most impact on me.

I have been to the "square" hundreds of times but this is something that I’ve never seen before.  It’s the complete courthouse.  Why haven’t I seen it before?  Before the tornado damage, the grounds were full of beautiful trees.  A typical view of the courthouse would look like this.


CC-BY-SA-3.0-MIGRATED – Wikipedia

An entire entry about the tornado that hit Goderich is available here on Wikipedia.

The complete set of pictures that I took this afternoon appears here.

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Sep 15 2011

OTR Links for 09/15/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sep 14 2011

Is that really the answer?

Yesterday’s Answer Sheet from the Washington Post started with this comment…

A recent article in The New York Times explains how after investing $33 million in technology, a school district in Arizona has seen almost no improvement in test scores.

It was a nice teaser to get me to read the rest of this article. I had already read the New York Times article.  I was fuming by the time that I got to the end of both articles.  I’m a teacher and a learner and I’m damned proud that I chose this as a profession.  It absolutely infuriates me when an entire community of professionals is whitewashed with the same brush because of a single report or incident.

I remember a while back when I had someone say to me…

I just read a report that indicates that computers don’t improve test scores.

My response was a flippant…

I’m living proof that by just giving me a dictionary doesn’t make me a professional writer.

But, I can (and did) turn around and look up “flippant” in my dictionary.  It’s a tool that I learned to use a long time ago.  The fact that I turned to it instead of this piece of technology that I’m keyboarding on is telling, I think.

You can read the rest of the article if you wish.  Even on my umpteenth time through it, I’m still not seeing the answer to the original question posed in the title to the article.

Yes, kids are bored.  Yes, kids don’t like mathematics.  Whoa!  Let’s stop there.  Some kids don’t like mathematics.  I happen to love mathematics and when my parents tried to engage at the dinner table, I would have the same non-committal “nuthin’” response.

Perhaps it’s time to look at the original premise about improvement in test scores.  Is that truly the goal of education?  It may be one of the barometers that people like to use to bash those in education.  Just think – are there any good stories about tests? Is that truly the goal?

Ironically, I was just interrupted by a Twitter message from a parent who had read my post about BYOD and was sharing her daughter’s success story about using an application on the iPad for personal notetaking and organization.  This actually helps me answer the question that I just posed and that I suspect most technology using teachers would agree on.  Part of the goal of education is in the preparation for the future…whatever that might be.

After that final test, will there be another test?

Probably not.  Does that also mean that the learning is over?  After all, don’t we want students to be lifelong learners?

After the final mouse click, will there be another mouse click?  You bet there will be.

After the final group work assignment, will there be other group working situations?  After the final research assignment for school, will there be other times when research is needed?  You better believe it.  How will a graduate do the research?  How a graduate know how to form a group to generate powerful answers?  It sure won’t be by asking the Cash Cab to pull over and ask a random stranger.

These skills are so powerful and are possible with the use of technology.  Do we deny the teaching of these skills simply because they are not on the test?

I sure hope that the answer is never no.  I hope that the clever minds that are guiding the educational ship never stop spending to bring the latest technologies to students and do their best to engage them in very active learning.  I hope that great teachers continue to use technology to try to meet students’ needs where they’re currently residing.

The one part of the original article that was insightful to me was the telling of the story about $30,000 in iPads with no money left over for applications.  That can hardly be blamed on the technology.  Let’s point our fingers at a short-sided planning process.  Any technology purchase should have significant plans and funds devoted to support, connectivity, implementation, sustainability, repairs, and professional learning.

I would encourage the author(s) to view the conversations and connections among educators that are happening every day on services like Twitter.  Be a part of that conversation, please, and see what passioned educators are doing to motivate and learn with students.  Let’s put the energies into helping that cause and really be part of the solution that is best for students.  Is the answer really a school system without technology?

Sep 14 2011

OTR Links for 09/14/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sep 13 2011

My Apologies

There’s fall in the air and I decided this morning to change away from the Spring theme for the blog.  I wanted to try something darker but not black.  I really liked the theme that I chose and it worked well for this morning’s post but I didn’t think to check earlier posts.

The images that I had previously posted were wider than the new theme allowed and consequently things were a little difficult to read.  So, I’ve made another choice.  If you landed on a page that looked like a dog’s breakfast, I would invite you to revisit it with this new theme.

Sep 13 2011

Another list NOT to be on!

I’m going to dedicate this post to my friend @alfredtwo.  We get to see each other periodically but stay in touch through our blogs and on Twitter.  Every now and again, we’ll find one of those lists of top ## whatevers.  Quickly, we scan the list up and down looking for each other.  99 times out of 100 we’re not on the lists but the fun is in the looking!

Recently, I found a list that neither or us would never want to be on!  It’s the Museum of Obsolete Objects!

The museum is actually a YouTube channel very creatively skinned to dig into video content from the popular video sharing service.  Use your mouse to navigate a timeline, looking for an icon noting an object.  Click to zoom in and play the related video.

So, reunite yourself to things that are obsolete like rotary telephones, photographs, quills, and more.

There’s even an option to add suggestions for future content.

Alfred, may we never make this list!

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Sep 13 2011

OTR Links for 09/13/2011

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Sep 12 2011

High Tech Spectating

It’s Sunday morning as I start to prepare this entry.  One of my obsessions is Formula 1 racing and this week, we’re in Italy at Monza. The race at Monza is one of my favourites to watch although it’s not a track that I think would be spectator friendly.  The track is outrageously fast with a couple of chicanes thrown in gratuitously, it seems, to slow the cars down.  The track is also located in a forest which would make watching anything but what’s right in front of you pretty difficult. On the other hand, the mob of fans at the base of the podium during the award ceremony must really be something to see.

What fascinates me about Formula 1 racing is the amount of technology and innovation that goes into the design of the cars and the driving development of the drivers.  I can’t get enough of this stuff.  I know that it drives my family nuts that I watch practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and the race itself on Sunday.  Thankfully, given that most of the races are in Europe, it’s an early morning watch in Canada.  But, I have my routine – and it’s faily high tech itself.

First, I find the track on Google Earth.  At times, this can be a challenge since many of the tracks are quite a distance from where you might think them to be.  However, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is very easy to spot once you find the community of Monza.

Just as if I go to a baseball or football game, I like to get there early and walk around to see what I can see.  Streetview is perfect for that purpose.

Sadly, Streetview doesn’t show things from a driver’s perspective ON the track itself.  I think that many race fans would enjoy a Streetview tour of the track.  It must be amazing to take Curva Parabolica and see everything there.  Streetview would definitely be safer than in the driver’s seat of a Formula 1 car.

But, the stars of the show are the cars and the drivers.  I also find that the highlight of any event is actually the Saturday qualifying.  Here, all of the technology is tweaked and put into place to get the absolute most from the car lest you not qualify.  The three rounds with eliminations make every moment on the track count.  Unlike oval racing where you can see all of the cars at time on a television screen, it’s more of a challenge on these tracks.  But, there’s an app for that!

The folks at Formula 1 have wonderful applications that let you see everything that you could possibly want to know about the track, the cars, and the drivers from the comfort of your living room.  If there’s any question that we live in a data driven world, look at what data is available instantly.  These screen shots are from the iPod Touch application.

Races and Race times – best at each sector

High tech cars are sensitive to the elements.  Wind, rain, temperature, track temperature…

And, of course the race itself. Track each driver even if they’re not on the screen!  Just look at Alonzo leaping from fourth to first at the start of the race.

and so much more.

Isn’t it amazing what we can do with the technology at hand and a desire to get the most from it all?  (and being a little more than obsessive)

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