Nlowell's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T06:56:58Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowellhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1949874569?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=nlowell&xn_auth=noForty-Two Years Agotag:www.classroom20.com,2007-04-07:649749:BlogPost:32042007-04-07T00:45:54.000Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowell
I'm having a reflective day today.<br></br><br></br>A page fell out of my scrap book this morning and reminded me that April, 1965, was when I won second prize in the junior high school science fair for my home-built computer. It was a five-bit binary adder. It only won second prize because the high school science and math teachers doing the judging really didn't see the value in an arithmetic that had only a 1 and a 0.<br></br><br></br>Over the last forty-odd years, I've changed base technology about every…
I'm having a reflective day today.<br/><br/>A page fell out of my scrap book this morning and reminded me that April, 1965, was when I won second prize in the junior high school science fair for my home-built computer. It was a five-bit binary adder. It only won second prize because the high school science and math teachers doing the judging really didn't see the value in an arithmetic that had only a 1 and a 0.<br/><br/>Over the last forty-odd years, I've changed base technology about every five years, I've been through at least 12 major platform changes, eight careers, and about twenty two computer languages. When I first got on the internet, there were only 10million computers and people were wondering what it would be like when it broke 20million. It was all text based and "command line" communications.<br/><br/>And I'm looking back at all this stuff today and thinking "I probably shouldn't be so curmudgeonly about those who've only been at it a few years."<br/><br/>So, consider this my apology to those who find my attitude too brusque, abrasive, or otherwise offensive. I've been doing it too long and I forget sometimes.<br/><br/>I'm still gonna "call 'em like I see 'em" and I see 'em very differently than most people in the field.<br/><br/>But I'll try to be more polite about it when I tell you how wrong you are. :)<br/>It's About the Kidstag:www.classroom20.com,2007-04-03:649749:BlogPost:25892007-04-03T17:56:10.000Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowell
Chris Craft made an excellent point in our discussion yesterday:<br></br><br></br>
<blockquote>After all, this is about the kids sitting in my classroom right now, and what is best for them, where best is defined as supported by
research, best practice, etc.</blockquote>
<br></br><br></br>This has been echoing in my head ever since I read it.<br></br><br></br>I agree and support this sentiment.<br></br><br></br>But I feel compelled to point out that driver's ed teachers need to know how to drive. Part of what makes a great…
Chris Craft made an excellent point in our discussion yesterday:<br/><br/>
<blockquote>After all, this is about the kids sitting in my classroom right now,
and what is best for them, where best is defined as supported by <br />
research, best practice, etc.</blockquote>
<br/><br/>This has been echoing in my head ever since I read it.<br/><br/>I agree and support this sentiment.<br/><br/>But I feel compelled to point out that driver's ed teachers need to know how to drive. Part of what makes a great teacher (correct me if I'm off base here) is that s/he is able to take a collection of tools and make them work in astonishing ways. Books, boards, crayons, computers, whatever. Learning a tool so you can require your kids to use it because it's a "best practice" is like being "one chapter ahead of the class in the text."<br/><br/>I'm not saying that this is what Chris is advocating, but I think it bears emphasis. If you don't "own it" and if you don't "use it" yourself in your own learning -- you ARE still learning, right? -- then most of this Deuce stuff is the gray paint on the naval frigate. Makes them blend in with the rest, but doesn't help them float.<br/><br/>I appreciate the sentiment that a teacher can't waste time on practice that has no merit, but if you don't know it yourself, then how can you know? What's the value of putting a computer in a classroom?<br/><br/>None if you don't turn it on.<br/><br/>Little if you only use it do to "normal" things.<br/><br/>Priceless if you do something surprising with it.<br/><br/>By definition, "surprising" isn't a best practice.<br/><br/>And you only get to "surprising" by owning the technology yourself.<br/><br/>JMO. YMMV.<br/><br/>NL<br/>Happy Birthday, Blogs!tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-04-01:649749:BlogPost:21462007-04-01T16:10:47.000Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowell
I picked up this item in my 'gator from <a href="http://doc.weblogs.com/2007/04/01">Doc Searls</a>.<br></br><br></br>For those who thought that blogging was something new, ten years ago today, <a href="http://scripting.com/1997/04/01">Dave Winer started blogging.</a><br></br><br></br>Despite the date today, I believe this is the real birthday of blogs.<br></br><br></br>Some will dispute this -- there's no acknowledgement of Dave Winer in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog">Wikipedia entry</a>, for example…
I picked up this item in my 'gator from <a href="http://doc.weblogs.com/2007/04/01">Doc Searls</a>.<br/><br/>For those who thought that blogging was something new, ten years ago today, <a href="http://scripting.com/1997/04/01">Dave Winer started blogging.</a><br/><br/>Despite the date today, I believe this is the real birthday of blogs.<br/><br/>Some will dispute this -- there's no acknowledgement of Dave Winer in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog">Wikipedia entry</a>, for example -- but the key element of modern blogging is the RSS feed. Without the feed, it's just another website. While there were other syndication formats, it seems clear that RSS was the catalyst and Winer was instrumental in developing the RSS specificiation.<br/><br/>So, thanks, Dave and happy birthday, blogs.<br/><br/>(I'd sing Happy Birthday, but it's copyrighted and I don't wanna pay the royalties on it.)<br/><br/><br/>For extra credit points: What's the birthday of Podcasting?<br/>Mouth -- Moneytag:www.classroom20.com,2007-03-30:649749:BlogPost:12742007-03-30T11:54:16.000Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowell
Last night I put my money where my mouth is and applied for a Technology Director job in a small school district in rural Texas.<br></br><br></br>It seems to me that the leverage points are going to be where people are really anxious to change and are willing to actually do something to make it happen. What I run into mostly is people who want to do the same silly stuff but get different outcomes. My goal is to take my 40 years of experience with technology and my 10 years experience with education and…
Last night I put my money where my mouth is and applied for a Technology Director job in a small school district in rural Texas.<br/><br/>It seems to me that the leverage points are going to be where people are really anxious to change and are willing to actually do something to make it happen. What I run into mostly is people who want to do the same silly stuff but get different outcomes. My goal is to take my 40 years of experience with technology and my 10 years experience with education and try to make a difference in a small, rural, poor school district.<br/><br/>Now, the questions are still there<br/>- Do they even want change?<br/>- Are they interested in hiring a PhD?<br/>- Will they be willing to accept skill, knowledge, and education in lieu of a "valid Texas teaching certificate"?<br/>- How far are they willing to go to become a model district?<br/>- Do my ideas have any merit?<br/><br/><br/>I looked at the district's NCLB report card. They're in the 80% range but the bottom group appears to be well down still, so there looks like there may be some room for leverage. I can only find one year's worth of data so I can't really tell what the trends look like. Like most districts they're probably celebrating on the upticks and beating themselves on the down ticks -- just like they had any control of them.<br/><br/>I'll let ya know how it works out.<br/><br/><br/><br/>It's a Way of Lifetag:www.classroom20.com,2007-03-28:649749:BlogPost:8412007-03-28T04:05:27.000Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowell
So, I was chatting with a friend on IM tonight and it occured to me that one facet that's been missing in this discussion is that we keep talking about adding these tools to our practice. Or transforming our practice to incorporate the various technologies.<br></br><br></br>The problem is, that's not how the tools work.<br></br><br></br>It's 9.30pm here in Colorado. This is the online prime time. The Right Coast is winding down. The Left Coast is ramping up. It's the middle of the afternoon in Adelaide, but…
So, I was chatting with a friend on IM tonight and it occured to me that one facet that's been missing in this discussion is that we keep talking about adding these tools to our practice. Or transforming our practice to incorporate the various technologies.<br/><br/>The problem is, that's not how the tools work.<br/><br/>It's 9.30pm here in Colorado. This is the online prime time. The Right Coast is winding down. The Left Coast is ramping up. It's the middle of the afternoon in Adelaide, but some of the people in Europe are beginning to come online. It's 9AM in Mumbai.<br/><br/>Your students are online. The rest of the world is thinking and talking and playing and planning. Where are you guys? What are you doing? I suspect a couple of you might be in Second Life right now. I might try to track down EduIsland myself in a bit.<br/><br/>The point I want to make here -- as gently as possible -- is that this whole Web 2.0 thing isn't something that fits neatly into the job. It won't ever work as something you add on, like a fresh coat of paint in your classrooms. If I want to talk to my friend in Texas, it has to be in the evening. My friend in Syracuse and I Skype a lot during the day. My wife and I frequently have IM conversations across the room from each other because it's the only way we can have a private conversation without the kids hearing. I check into the ORG when I wake up in the morning and again before I go to bed. My IM is always on. My email is, too. Over the course of the day, I may visit with thirty or forty people -- my boss, my co-workers, my customers, my students, and my friends without ever actually seeing them in meat space at all.<br/><br/>That's not unusual in my world.<br/><br/>Sure I go to the real grocery store, and I move my laptop to my office at the university during the day, and I talk to people in meat space, too. But my friends, my family, my colleagues .. they're all out here on the web. I don't even use the phone that much except to talk to people who "don't know any better." I download stuff to play on my mp3 player for when I can't have a link. I even order pizza online. It doesn't start at 8am and it doesn't stop at 5pm. It's all day. It's every day. It's all the time.<br/><br/>The piece that's missing in this discussion -- the thing that makes the key difference between immigrant and native -- is that for the immigrant all this stuff is something *else* to do. For the native and aboriginal, it's a way of life. It's not something else to do. It's what we do instead.<br/>Hello? Is this thing ON??tag:www.classroom20.com,2007-03-26:649749:BlogPost:3672007-03-26T19:30:25.000Znlowellhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/nlowell
First impression.<br/><br/>Is anybody there? I can't see if anybody else is here with me or not.<br/>
<br />
<br/>Interface is pretty simplistic an that's probably a good thing.<br/><br/>Love the google ads. They add that certain <i>je ne sais quois</i>.<br/><br/><br/>Second impression.<br/><br/>Why are we here again?<br/><br/><br/>Ok. I'll put a lid on the snark for the moment and go back to trying to figure out what pieces of this are doing which.<br/><br/><br/>
First impression.<br/><br/>Is anybody there? I can't see if anybody else is here with me or not.<br/>
<br />
<br/>Interface is pretty simplistic an that's probably a good thing.<br/><br/>Love the google ads. They add that certain <i>je ne sais quois</i>.<br/><br/><br/>Second impression.<br/><br/>Why are we here again?<br/><br/><br/>Ok. I'll put a lid on the snark for the moment and go back to trying to figure out what pieces of this are doing which.<br/><br/><br/>