EdTechBytes

Does increased access to technology lead to increased usage and integration in the classroom?

Does increased usage and integration in the classroom lead to increased student engagement, motivation, learning, achievement, higher order thinking skills, and creativity?

What does it take, in terms of technical, administrative, and instructional support, development, and classroom practices to get to the next level?

And the big evolutionary question: As computing in schools evolves from desktop access in hallway computer labs, to labs of portable laptop carts accessible in individual classrooms, to now ultra portable handhelds for ubiquitous computing, how will teachers and administrators integrate the fact that students can now have, in their pocket, easy access to the Internet and powerful tools for learning and creating?

Will the nature of teaching and learning change? Or, will we just continue traditional teaching in digital format?

Of course we won’t solve these types of questions in a June iPod Touch pilot. And these questions are not new to anyone involved with technology. But, hopefully, as more educators see these devices and understand the potential, more will understand why these questions are important.

There’s an App for that… as the iPhone/iTouch commercial goes.. 

Our iPod Touch pilot limits us to free apps. During one of our county meetings, it appears that the issue of buying and distributing apps is still in the early stages. For example, if our school bought an app, and we synch 30 computers to one iTunes account, do we buy one app for the synching computer, or do we need 30 licenses for the 30 iTouches? 

So for now, it’s free apps only. I’ve heard from some sources that Apple is aware of this issue, and has hinted that a school would only need one app. But, any tech geek is always hopeful and cautious about rumors when it comes to Apples.

From initial observations, the variety of apps provide the iTouch with a significant advantage over previous handheld technologies. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for those of us in tech to always expect the one killer application or the immediate transformational effect that defines the benefits of a technology product, perhaps originating from the hopeful, but flawed, perspective to see technology as the immediate silver bullet solution to problems in education.

But, in this case, the sum may be greater than the parts. All the different apps, from graphing calculators, e-book readers, notes, personal organizers, video, slideshows, etc- all quickly and easily accessible in a student’s pocket, may define the value of the iPod Touch as a supplemental learning tool in education- if we can figure out how to pay for some apps.

How does a teacher get content (documents and multimedia files) to the iPod Touch for students to use in class? This may appear to be an easy question, but it proved to be quite challenging.

Some background info: We operate in a PC environment and all teachers use Blackboard. We can only use free applications, so for now, applications like ikonstrukt or other similar systems are off limits.

So how does a teacher get content to the iPod Touch(es)?

Solution 1: Synch all the iPods when content is needed; based on our experience, a less than optimal process considering we use 1 PC and about five USB hubs to sync with 30 cables. (Think: octopus….)

Solution 2: Use Blackboard. This requires students logging in through the Safari browser and navigating to their specific course. In addition, multimedia content in Blackboard will not play through the Safari browser. Typing a username and password in the Safari browser, then navigating through the small buttons is not a quick process.

Unfortunately, the Blackboard Learn app for iTouch has received terrible reviews (1 1/2 stars in the iTunes store) and has not been cleared by our technology department. So that’s out….

Solution 3: ???

After some research, our solution was to create an independent WordPress site. The benefits:

1) Students can access the content, especially multimedia file formats not readable in Blackboard using an iTouch directly with the Safari browser in any location with Internet access. The Quicktime player launches when it encounters a multimedia file. PDF files are also viewable.

2) Teachers can post content (text, multimedia files (video and podcasts), and PDF files) quickly and easily and make it readily available to students. No synching is needed to get video, podcasts, etc to students. (No instructional time lost.)

3) A shortcut to this website using “Add to Home Screen” can make this site quickly available to iPod users upon turning on a iPod. Unlike using Blackboard, no login is needed, making access quicker and more efficient.

The cons:

1) The need for a WordPress hosted website.

So, Mr. Jarosz, the 8th Grade English Teacher implementing the pilot, and I created the following WordPress site: http://english.mcbytes.com/ . Our goal was to be able to have all required content and products accessible through the iPod Touch… Overall, we are pleased with the result and the students can access the content very quickly.

To be continued…..

Disrupting Class, by Clayton Christensen, was one of the readings for EDUC 874: The Achievement Gap. Of particular interest for us in education and technology is Christensen’s proposal that highly customizable computer based instruction will meet the demand for individual instruction, thereby changing the nature of teaching and learning in education. In terms of closing the achievement gap, the question then becomes- can technology close the achievement gap?

Any teacher who customizes their instructional materials would be interested in easy to use, readily accessible technology that makes designing instructional activities appropriate to student needs quick and easy. Back in my special education teacher days in early 2000, I used the Coursebuilder extension for Dreamweaver to create online activities for my class since functional mathematics wasn’t exactly a hot web topic.  I also wanted my students to have opportunities to learn technology skills through relevant activities from simple review games to more open ended webquests. Eventually, I learned some of the action scripts to create Flash activities, but all this took lots of time. 

Two promising Web 2.0 tools that are beginning to make programming more accessible to educators are Scratch and Popfly. Could these tools be the early beginning of Christensen’s highly customizable computer based instruction? So far the education offerings are slim and most of the examples are games and other types of interactive activities- nothing that could be classified as being anything close to “disrupting class.”

But, at the same time it is encouraging to see these types of tools become more accessible to non-techies. With the ability for anyone to create videos, podcasts, and other media on the web, and with the emerging ability to create customizable online interactive simulations/activities, perhaps the idea of “highly customizable” instruction is closer than previously imaginable. 

So I hope to give Scratch and Popfly a closer look, and maybe convert some of my old special education math activities to this newer format.

As part of my doctoral studies at George Mason, I’m helping Dr. Schrum and Ms. Solomon with the follow up book to Web 2.0: New Tools and New Schools. We are looking for educators with compelling stories of how they have used Web 2.0 tools in their classroom to feature in the book. So, if you have a story to share, please take the survey below.

http://tinyurl.com/cmu4qy

How can the iPod Touch facilitate teaching and learning? From an educator perspective, more importantly, what kinds of technical, instructional, and administrative support are needed to maximize the potential?

I’m fortunate to be at a school chosen to participate in an iPod Touch pilot, where a classroom of 30 students will have an iPod Touch to use at home and at school.  As hardware and software costs continue to decrease, it’s inevitable that these technologies that enable 1:1 computing in some format, whether it be laptops, netbooks, palm pilots, or iPods,  will be available in more and more schools. There are several districts, classrooms, and schools where such programs are already in place, so naturally we are all obviously excited about the project. 

More to follow….

For those of us who work in technology, late May/ early June is online testing month for our students. And for most teachers pursuing National Board, May and June is typically the time most take their online assessment. To any teachers who want some informal  practice, I made this site a few years ago to help the candidates in my prep courses. 

So best wishes to all those taking those online tests.

Welcome to EdTechBytes. After tinkering with my Web 1.0 teacher website on and off for about six years, I’ve finally decided to migrate to a WordPress format.

This is a continuation of my old teacher website (formerly at www.e-ledesma.com).  According to my visitor statistics, the two resources used most often were my National Board Assessment Center simulation and the functional mathematics website.  Those sites will now be accessible through the menu on the top of the page. I will be migrating many of the resources from that site to this website over the next few days so there may be some broken links until the process is complete.

Thanks for visiting.