Episode 18: Why edutopia might disappoint you

GLEF magazine "edutopia" bills has the tagline now of "What Works in Public Education" but is the publication headed in the right direction? Some contend that the publication is light on content and heavy on advertising; others say it is a nice resource and is offered free to educators.

Show notes: I think some of us were sort of excited to be getting a magazine from the George Lucas Educational Foundation (and in the summer of 1977, I was introduced to the "creative impulse" George Lucas via Star Wars...which saw in San Francisco at the Cornet theatre). In those early issues four years ago, it look like that Edutopia was going to be a magazine that was technologically savvy for the educator. And it was and it had a great website (especially the staff development section regarding of PBL). Then, about two years ago, I got bored and stopped reading the issue even though I was getting the subscription for free. The content got a bit light (even fashion for the teacher) and it seemed to lose its focus. Now, with the most recent issue, James Daily (editorial director) refocuses the publication to be relevant again.

Most of the discussion is centered on the first 10 pages of the most current of the June/July 2008 issue of Edutopia. Specifically, I make mention of James Daily's editor's note: "What Works in Public Education" (10). I also make a parting pot shot at the article about plagarism (in short, teachers need better writing engagements).

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Episode 17: Teach me Moodle, okay?

One approach to staff development as we consider how to teach (not so much train) teachers Moodle.

Show notes:
Most of the information for this podcast is from a outline of a proposal I did about a year ago. It needs to be tweaked and all, so feel welcome in using all or part or none of the ideas for training teachers on using Moodle.

Teaching with Moodle

Day 1: Why teacher with technology?
A four[six]-hour discussion of exploring the reasons for using technology (in this case, Moodle) in the classroom. Participants will be experiencing Moodle as the instructor builds the class in Moodle from scratch. The basis of instruction will come from various readings regarding using technology in the classroom and participant-generated text.

Day 2: How do I teach using Moodle?
Participants will bring existing units of learning (a unit, lessons, etc) transitioning that lesson(s) to Moodle. Participants will be using the ACOT Unit of Practice template (Invitation, Standards, Tasks, Interactions, Situation, Assessment, Tools) to aid in this translation to their class site.

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Next episode: Why edutopia might disappoint you.

Taking Moodle for a spin (Part 2)

Sandboxing Moodle is all fine and dandy, but to really get into the heart and potential of Moodle, you really should try your own install on your own server. 

The easiest way to play with your own installation of Moodle is through an install script that comes with most web hosting sites (some might say to install Moodle on your computer would be easier, but I disagree). I'll mention two that I am familiar with because used both of the services.

1 and 1 Hosting seems to be about the most reasonable price with a lot of features. As of this writing, you can get (through the end of June 2008) most than you'll need for $48 a year. They bill monthly, so you can skip a Starbucks run or two and you should be fine. The documentation is nice and the set up process was painless (you can even get a domain name through the site at no charge). 

I've used Siteground.com for two years and they seem to be a tad more expensive, but in return you'll get an insane amount of storage space (750mb), more databases (if you care) and some of the best and fastest customer service on the internet. They also have free domain names with their package deals. 

After you are signed up and have received confirmation messages via your email, you want to head to the quick install scripts for web applications. For 1and1.com it's the "Click n Build" button and just follow the dialogue boxes to install Moodle on your site. 

Siteground uses the more popular cPanel interface along with the Fantastica installer scripts (which I think gives you access to more FOSS web apps than 1and1.com). You'll scroll down to "Software/Services" and click on the "Fantastico De luxe" and you'll find the Moodle app to install (scroll down to "Other Scripts". Like 1and1.com, you'll just follow the dialogue boxes and you'll have your Moodle site set up and ready to take for a spin.

If you're saying that you don't got no money, but still want to play around with your own version of Moodle, head over to the Download section of the Moodle site, choose your operating system from the top menu and follow the directions (I've install this on my eMac at home, and it worked fine).

Next in this little series, we'll address the question "So, I got Moodle installed...now what?" We'll look at some things you can try out on your own Moodle site.

Take Moodle out for a spin (Part 1)

If you are interested in migrating some or all of your classroom to the internets, you should be looking at Moodle. It's open source, it's free, it's really, really good. In fact, if you haven't seen a site that is driven by community, you should look at Moodle's own site and you'll get the idea.

Things to do: Read and visit the links under the "Welcome to Moodle!" banner in the middle. You'll get an idea about Open Source and the pedagogical bent that Moodle was designed around. Then, get a cup of really good coffee (or any beverage) and have a look around the demonstration sites to get a range of possibilities. You might find that you'll need to register on the site, but that process is painless. (The first module, aptly named: "Moodle Demo Features" will give you a wonderful overview about Moodle within the context of the CMS). Lastly, you may want to glance at the "Moodle Buzz" to find out what's new about Moodle.

As I've mentioned before, it's probably best to try something out for yourself and if you're interested in Moodle, why not give it a try? You might want to play around (or sandbox) with the Moodle CMS and OpenSourceCMS allows you to look at Moodle from the "student" side as well as the "administrator" side (where you as a teacher would do your adding and editing of various elements on your Moodle page or site).

Tomorrow in Part II, I'll suggest a way to get your own Moodle site running.

Episode 16: How much has technology hurt the classroom?

Top of the show recommendations:
This week, I'm sharing stuff I like around the home

• The Week (best digest of all that is happening in one publication)
• Senseo Coffee maker (no mess and a consistent cup of coffee... every time)
• FlipVideo camera (small, convenient and decent output)
• Roomba (it really works and it's sort of fun)

Episode Notes: A look at if we're even in an education crisis and who says we are and the limitations of a techno-centric view of schooling.

Educational crisis

• In the 80s, it was the DOE publication A Nation at Risk that sparked "crisis" in US education.
• "There seems to be a pattern: when the country feels insecure, let's fix our problems with trying to reform education (let the kids fix it)".
• "NCLB which attempts to judge all things evenly (built on a concept that was the Houston [Texas] Miracle...later found to be a fraud...but not many people will talk about that..."
• "...and I still agree with Harry Wong and other who have said that you can't fix a society's problems with education."
• "Here's the problem: you have to dig really deep below the words and scary headlines and stats to see if there is really merit to how a school or a district or a state or a nation is doing in education."

So what about technology?

• "Well, it gets in the way and probably will continue to cloud the resources and energies and we "prepare our students" for the 21st Century..."
• "And I'm thinking: people are really viewing education as a business and how fast a business should be run..."
• "Instead, learning isn't fast; learning is much like the plateau where "better" learning happens over a long period of time...For who ever said that somehow you needed to know a lot more facts than you did 20 years ago...isn't the better ideal that people, our students, their parents, our colleagues and us...all can think and ponder and wonder and reflect and articulate ..."

Yeah, but...some practical upshot:
Download and participate in a FOSS community

• Firefox
• OpenOffice
• Moodle

Read about community

• Opensource Democracy (Douglas Ruskhoff)
• Open Sources: Voices from the Opensource Revolution (O'Reilly)
• Linux Journal, Linux Format

Show length: 32:33

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It begins with dropping the rhetoric

We use words to attempt to communicate to others what we mean and sometimes we honestly can't articulate what is in our mind. And, sometimes, we are so excited about what we want to say that we use words that have lost their true meaning. (I remember that I used the word "dork" in a Sunday School class in the early 90's and the leader informed me that "that word is not appropriate and I don't feel that it should be said in mixed company." We were visitors that Sunday).

Those who try and describe what is happening the classroom or those who want to "reform" the classroom are most guilty of using words and phrases that have lost meaning. For example, the word "portfolio" began as a wonderful way of a showing student "growth" with powerful "assessment" possibilities. Each of those words had, in their original "label" deep and powerful meaning, but as those labels were picked up by mainstream educational journals and educational product advertisements, the words were labels that became buzzwords.

Today, let's toss in "accountability" and "reflection" and "standards." In fact, if I see another mention (like I did today as dropped my son off at a science exploration camp) mention of the phrase "Best Practice" I will seriously hurt someone seriously. Why? Because the book the originally presented the phrase (Best Practice: Today's Standards for Teaching and Learning in America's Schools) was an incredible, inspirational call of clear thinking and practice across the grade levels and curriculum; now, it's a buzzword that is tacked on to advertisements and mission statements.

Besides "21st Century Skills" (which I've mentioned a time or two already in this blog), the up and coming buzzword is "...that Works" (borrowed from an educational report and later popularized by Marzano et al [Data-Driven specialists]). Edutopia now has as their tagline a variation: "What Works in Public Education" and you can read the editor's passionate call for change here (more about that publication another time).

Part of bashingED is clear thinking about learning and technology. Whenever you see these overused "educational" words, labels or phrases, you'll probably getting some good old fashioned rhetoric which should be saved for the politicians and advertisers.

Episode 15: I went to a text file to live deliberately

Shelf Stuff
GoodReads.com
I noticed at our school corp year-end celebration that many of the retirees said that they'd now have more time to read and it seems as teachers, we like to read more. Nice layout, easy to use and great connection with other readers you know and perhaps meet. You can start your own reading group...students use it and what a wonderful way of making more connections with those whom we see each day in the classroom outside the classroom.

Goosh.org
And this is a bit geeky, but perhaps amusing: interact with most of the Google services through the command line...yeah, that's how I thought you'd respond. Anyway, it is amusing and somewhat useful...I think it continues the tradition of many ways to do one thing and I think that is a positive. So, instead of point and click, you enter commands (think back to the DOS 5.0 days w/o using PowerShell, et al). Hands are on keyboard and with a couple of commands, you are on your way.

Show Notes
What is plain text?
It's a file that doesn't have any other coding...it is only the letters and numbers and punctuation that is readable by humans...or at least normal ones. Basically, it's only the stuff of your keyboard. When you use a programs, to say, type a letter or lesson plan or handout (like MSWord or WP), that programs allows you do format characters and the document itself so that when you open it up again, it'll be consistent. But, you have to basically use that program to read that document and if that program goes through updates (like MS Word) the readable file format may change over the years. Most can import backward, but some formatting may change...no longer looks the same. Even RTF inserts code though many say it's the next best thing to plain text. Plain text will remain the same as long as computers can read plain text files

How can you use it?
Todo.txt (Organizing your life through a text file)

• Some folks like the Getting Things Done (GTD) approach
  
• One way of doing it: (http://todotxt.com)
  

Lesson planning

Arrange the way you plan the according to the way you think.

Some advocate all of your planning stuff, important stuff, in one file.
You could have the entire docs for a class in one file and then copy and paste for formatting. Or, if you are really daring, put everything in one file.
Sites referenced:

• Lifehacker
• 43 Folders

And can you make a convenient little metaphor for something bigger?
Thoreau for some reason went to Waldon pond to figure out life...or as had been quoted: "I went to the woods to live deliberately...to suck out the marrow of life" etc. Take a plain-text look at your classroom, strip away the extra modifiers and requirements and see the magic again.


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Next week: How much has technology hurt the classroom?
A look at if we're even in an education crisis and who says we are...and the limitations of a techno-centric view of schooling. Tuesday, 10 June 2008, 5:05 p.m.