Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

Want One

http://insideevs.com/

Every time I see a Tesla driving down the road, I want one. They look great, go fast, are environmentally friendly (don't worry I am not giving up my gas lawn mower just yet :-), and the technology in these cars is cutting edge. I occasionally construct my order online and arrive at checkout, which is where I am brought back down to earth, then go outside and sit in my Prius. Some of the things I find interesting with this company is the process that is used to construct their vehicles and the importance of man and machine working together to make it happen.

 Image: CNET / CBS Interactive

Boring?

I recently came across a Tech Republic article, which after reading I found the title to be a bit silly, but it caught my attention because of a podcast I listened to recently about robot automation. Basically the podcast was stating there are not enough skilled workers who can actually work on the robots to keep them running, and a few big companies were starting programs to train their people for these skilled positions. The "boring" reference in the article title was pointing out how the introduction of bots could increase the "drudgery" of the 9-5 job in some cases. The example was centered around the Amazon Kiva bots that are used in some of their US fulfillment centers, which Amazon recently has been discussing with the holiday season upon us. You can read the article for yourself and determine the message that the writer has intended, but for myself I tend to reflect on the discussion that has been going on for years about the ever changing careers that technology influences.

Skilled Workforce
We have been hearing and reading about the shortage of skilled workers for some time now and how the 21st Century Learner is going to need different skills for the modern workplace. With automation and jobs that require a different skill set, it is important we don't lose focus on the solid foundation needed for our students to be able to leave the K-12 and higher education system ready for the ever changing workplace, on the job training and new careers. The question remains are we preparing them for such a world? I came across this very interesting article about Toyota and the Bluegrass Community Technical College, who have partnered to create the AMT program. A statement that caught my attention was from Dennis Dio Parker, an assistant manager at Toyota, "Parker says high schools and colleges in the U.S. are failing to turn out graduates with the mix of technical expertise, problem-solving ability and communication skills that companies like Toyota needs." Technical fields may not be for every student, but shouldn't all students have the ability to communicate and problem solve? If our students simply master the 4 c's, they will be prepared to adapt to any situation including technologies influence on the world and careers.  

Jobs will continually change and become more technical. Some jobs may be eliminated, while new ones will take their place, creating different skill requirements. Gilbert Passin VP of Manufacturing for Tesla made a comment in Tesla Motors Part 2, "Robots are extremely good at repeatability and accuracy of motion, humans are more intelligent than robots therefore we need to use them where there is a lot of value for that intelligence." The future only has to be boring if that is the way we view it.   

Tech in Sochi

Up and Down

I have always enjoyed watching the Olympics, both summer and winter versions. Each of the seasons contain many events that I find exciting and some that are well, just plain boring to me. At times I think that the X Games should just change their name to the Olympics and we would be better off, but that is just an opinion, so please don't take offense. One aspect of the games that I do find interesting is the technology advancements in equipment and apparel that the athletes use to give them that ever so slight advantage when paired with their amazing athletic ability. Let us also not overlook the technology that runs the entire event, including the opening and closing ceremonies.

The 5th Ring
By now the 5th ring of the Olympic symbol is famous, being stubborn and refusing to open was all part of it's mischevious plan to seperate itself from the other four rings at the opening ceremonies in Sochi. We all know that somewhere in Russia, someone was blaming that dang technology for not working properly and ruing the lesson, I mean show. All IT people around the world were probably cringing when they saw that ring thinking about itself and not the countless tech folks who put hours into programming, setup, and testing to make that one moment go off without a fuss. We all know it's part of the game and the amount of technology at Sochi is quite staggering when you take a closer look.

Courtesy of CNET News. Adiba explained that the technology infrastructure is composed of 400 servers, 1,000 security network devices, and 5,600 computers that are responsible for things such as providing real-time Olympics information to 9,500 accredited broadcasters and members of the media. As well, it is delivering competition results to a global audience in less than a second; processing and activating accreditation badges for 200,000 "members of the Olympic Family;" and collecting and processing data for all of the more than 5,500 athletes taking part in the games.   

My favorite tech stat from the opening ceremony is the 2.64 million lumens that were created by the 132 projectors working together to illuminate the stadium floor. I am not sure however if that tops the security perimeter setup around the games to scan texts, emails, cell calls and facially recoginize anyone attending, but that is a post for another day.

Other Technology
There are many other forms of technology worth noting that many wouldn't directly relate to someone sitting behind a laptop punching keys for hours. Matt McFarland pulled together seven examples in his Washing Post article and I wanted to highlight a few. 

1. New speed skating suit created by a collaboration between the apparel company Under Armour and Lockheed Martin. Who would have thought a defense company and sports clothing maker could come together to make a speed skating suit? Even if the US skaters are calling the suit in question after a poor start, large amount of technology here.
2. An ultra lightweight zipper on the jackets of freestyle skiers, that get this, is waterproof. I tease, but the zipper is bonded directly to the fabric, very cool if you ever have sewn a zipper back on.
3. Raising money through cryptocurrency. This form of exchange still confuses me, but this is how the Jamaican bobsled team and an Indian luger made it to Sochi.

Bring It Home
I did not take the time to research exactly how many people it takes just to make sure the technology at Sochi runs smoothly. After reflecting a bit on such a number, it really doesn't matter, because at some point technology plays a role in just about every aspect of our daily lives, including the Olympics. From social media to security, fancy zippers to 132 projectors, technology is embedded in our environment. Our students of today will be planning the Olympics of tomorrow and I just bet they won't be pushing a pencil to make things happen. Just remember to keep that 5th ring in check so all the IT folks around the world don't have to hold their breath in the future.  

Smartphone or Spyphone?

Fortunate

I must admit that I have drug my feet a bit adopting new smartphones over the years. In all fairness, I am lucky enough to be provided a phone through my employer and for that I am extremely grateful. Our smartphones have allowed myself and staff to answer tech tickets, research issues and contact one another, at any hour of the day. Until recently however, we have used our phones until they can no longer be fixed with electrical tape and super glue, then the spares are used until they turn into dust as well.  Because of this I hung on to my Blackberry(s) for far to long until graduating to an HTC Windows phone about a year ago and most recently a Samsung SIII. With the addition of the iPhone 5C as a choice now, we are finally living closer to what the real world has available to them.

by Mark A. Hicks

Permission
One topic that has been coming up recently in conversation with all the media buzz around NSA, security and Skynet conspiracy theories, is app permissions. Each app that I download seems to have additional permissions that seem very invasive. Don't get me wrong, eight out of ten times I am still going to download the app, however I need someone to explain to me why a flashlight app needs permission to take pictures and videos without my confirmation. Another permission that seemed a bit troubling was an app that asks for permission to my messages and asks for the ability to edit, read, receive, monitor and possibly delete my text messages without making me aware of the actions. I'm not concerned yet about Neo having to levitate in on the Nebuchadnezzar and save humankind from intelligent machines, rather where is the line for why an app needs permission for deleting a text that I haven't read yet?

Carry On
I am not going to retire my beloved Android phone because of a few app permissions I think may be stretching a bit, at least Android makes me aware of these permissions. What is a good idea is to take some time and become more familiar with why an app may need the permission it is asking for. I stumbled across "Why Does This Android App Need So Many Permissions?" article on lifehacker.com that contains a number of great resources on app permissions, why they are necessary for certain app functions and what to look out for. With close to a million Android apps and over a million apps in the iPhone app store, it is safe to say that we need to be aware of what we are downloading to our pockets. As a bonus, this may be a great opportunity to introduce our younger generation to Arnold and the T1000 in a teachable moment about becoming responsible cyber citizens!

Dump Truck Model

Back Up

Models haven't changed much over the years when it comes to implementing technology in our schools. I have by not been perfect by any means, but have learned a few things along the way that I use as guiding questions before making implementation decisions. However often circumstances seem to get in the way and decisions are made that produce large blanket purchases of technology that is hastily thrown into classrooms. We have seen this happen many times and on such a large scale that it gathers negative press when things don't go oh so perfect. My concern with the dump truck model is the negative impact it could have on the smaller roll outs that generally take more effort to set in motion.

Celebrate
Don't get me wrong, there are any number of large roll outs around the world that have been well planned and executed and remain a model for others to follow. It is those scenarios that we need to celebrate and hold up as examples to promote the importance of providing our students the relevant environment they deserve. The recent publicity that LAUSD has received with their billion dollar ipad initiative is one that is too big to fail. Without being involved in such a gigantic project, I can only reserve judgment on why they have had their issues, but it has drawn attention and gives the nay sayers fuel that is unfairly used in other situations. LAUSD will work out their issues and find success, they have to, and it will benefit other educational technology projects in many ways. Many of us do not have the resources that larger districts possess and having a successful model with resources to share is important for success outside of LAUSD.

Take Steps
I did a quick search for "steps for implementing technology" and had a wide range of returns, which included a variety of business world ideas also. One article that held my attention was titled, "Eight steps for implementing a technological overhaul", written by Ken Tysiac and highlighted the work of author and consultant Geoffrey Moore. Although the focus was business, many of his eight points easily cross over to the K-12 environment and I have highlighted a few below that I feel are very relevant to implementing a successful technology implementation.

• Determine which tools would have the biggest impact on effectiveness in those key moments with clients.
• Calibrate ambitions with their organization’s technology adoption tendencies, such as whether employees tend to be innovators, pragmatists, or conservatives.
• Recruit to the effort first those employees who tend to embrace new ideas.
• Engage with outside help to design and prototype the first new tools for communications and interactions
• Focus on user experience as the critical acceptance criterion.
• Get feedback from early adopters to create the case for applying the system to more pragmatic, less enthusiastic adopters.
• Align the technology to solve a particular issue that causes the pragmatists pain, and do whatever it takes to solve that issue.
• Once pragmatists are convinced, deploy a global roll-out.

Moore's ideas were addressing a specific need for client employee relationships and did not include the initial employee input on the best tools to address the need, which is something we rely on in the K-12 space, or should. But the idea of recruiting the high flyers that are always willing to embrace new ideas and listening to their feedback is critical.

It is difficult not to take advantage of grants, overrides, large funding sources of any kind when they present themselves. My hope is that the dump truck model is put in perspective and the audience, early adopters, and their feedback is kept in mind before that familiar sound is heard...beep...beep...beep. 

Phantom of the Cell Phone?

Buzzzzzzzzz

www.ckler.com

So we have all heard of phantom vibration where you think your Smartphone is ringing or there is an incoming text, and when you go to check, nothing. Sometimes it is disappointing right, you were expecting your friend to hit you back or waiting for that call from your significant other and it is just your imagination playing tricks on you. I stumbled across a recent article on phantom phone vibrations, thanks Feedly, and was surprised that there are researchers that have actually studied this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, there is probably a study for just about every behavior known to the human race, but still. I was hooked however, because I have some "ring-xiety" myself and wanted to see how this was going to turn out for me.

Makes Sense
The article quotes a research psychologist who studies how technology affects our minds, Dr. Larry Rosen. Rosen talks about how technology is affecting the way our brain processes information and possible obsessive behavior with our devices and backing away from them may be a way to keep ring-xiety down. I can't help but think of other situations over the years that seem to bring on similar behavior as phantom phone vibration. If you have children, how many of you would wake up multiple times a night thinking the little one was crying, only to find them sleeping soundly. Or sitting on the couch and you think you hear a car pull up in the driveway, walk all the way to the front door to look out and nobody there. Hopefully you have experienced something similar, if not I may need to take a little time off.

                                                        Moderation

Martin Cooper

As time changes and technologies become more prevalent in our lives I am sure our brains will process things differently. Moving from a chalkboard to whiteboard probably caused some dryerase-xiety in the past, just as phantom phone vibrations are making news again now. Dr. Rosen makes a good point about backing away from your devices every now and then. We all know that to much of anything is not a good thing, so take a break once in awhile from that device, it will be there when you get back.

Scan It!

Make It Yourself
I wrote about 3D printing in a post titled "Creative Juices" quite awhile ago, here is a few sentences on my view of 3D printing at the time. "Another technology device that I am amazed with is the 3D printer. Maybe it is just a shiny object that is distracting to me personally, but it seems like the device has a tremendous amount of potential to be used in schools. What better way to incorporate essential standards into a project based activity and actually be able to build a product, literally have it appear right in front of you." My views on 3D printing have not changed, but I still haven't found a way to procure a 3D printer for my school district, something I need to work on. Since writing about 3D printers almost two years ago, I have seen 3D printers small enough to fit in a backpack. It is amazing how quickly devices improve and become more economical to produce, but it just keeps getting better.

Digitizer
When I saw the recent unveiling of MakerBot's Digitizer,
I kept saying to myself, it just keeps getting better. My

first thought after watching the demo was, now I will be able to wreck my bicycles, come home, pull up the scan of a not so broken part, print it out and back in business. After thinking about it a bit more, the possibility of using a 3D digitized scan of a stock part and then modifying to my own specifications, truly intrigued me, not to mention making this happen in my garage.    

The Movement
It is technologies like 3D printing and digitizers that keep me thinking about our classrooms and how we are to keep up with the pace that industry moves at. I attended an ISTE session this past summer where Gary Stager was presenting, titled, "The Creative Learning Revolution You Can't Afford to Miss". Gary spoke about the maker movement, and focused on three game changers, fabrication, physical computing and programming. Many of his thoughts speak to the answers that we continually ask about preparing students for today's world and that is allowing students to do things that matter through "making". Digitizers, 3D printing, and other technology I could only dream of as a kid are becoming a reality due to their affordability and can enhance the learning environment. If we want our students to be critical thinkers, creative, and possess 21st century skills, they will need learning experiences that foster this in the classroom. 

Up In The Sky

Have You Heard
Newsflash, the Internet has changed the world! I know, I shouldn't have let that secret out, but think about how quickly we have become a global community and it is truly amazing. For most of us we work, play and communicate daily from our multiple devices, but there are still billions of people that do not have access to the Internet.

In The Sky
By now everyone knows that Google is filling the sky with balloons to bring the Internet to rural and remote areas. If you have 4 minutes, watch how loon works, it is amazing what humans can do when they have the desire to innovate. The project has begun testing in New Zealand and most recently has asked for volunteers in California's Central Valley area to participate in generating traffic. Like all big news makers, there has been some criticism of Google putting the cart before the horse with Loon, but we all know you need a solid infrastructure before adding devices.

Enter Facebook
Recently Facebook has been in the press with their internet everywhere initiative through internet.org. Zuckerberg's plans are a bit different than Loon, as he imagines bringing the Internet to world through mobile phones. The plan doesn't seem quite as flashy as sending up giant balloons that ride on the edge of space, but having the power of mobile carriers on your team is never a bad thing. My only thought is thinking about driving to my families house in the White Mountains of Arizona. It is difficult enough getting solid 4G service in the town that they live, much less on the ride there. If establishing a reliable cell network in our country isn't easy to do, what will it be like in a third world country?

One Request
I am excited that Facebook and the other corporate giants involved are working to help connect other nations around the world that lack the infrastructure to become part of a global society. Internet.org's focus will be on these emerging markets, and I am ok with that as we will all benefit and grow as a world if we are connected. Just one request, don't lose site of the emerging markets that have no access right here in our own rural and less fortunate neighborhoods.

Guest Post: How are We Using Technology in Classrooms?

Good People
If you look closely at any successful district, school, or business, you will find that the leader has surrounded themselves with amazing people. Those people are the ones that make things happen on a day to day basis, and without those people, one person alone can not make an organization great.

I am very fortunate to have a great team in place that makes the day to day happen in our district. I learn from them weekly and they make my job an easy one. Among our team members is our district Technology Integration Specialist, Tracy Watanabe. I will always credit her for inspiring me to get in the game and start a blog. I would recommend her blog to any teacher K-12 as she does a great job of breaking down technology integration into easy to understand pieces. I wanted to share one of her recent posts as it is relevant for not only teachers but any educator. You can visit her blog or follow her on twitter. Enjoy!


How are We Using Technology in Classrooms?
Technology has changed how we do things in our daily lives such as shopping, banking, communicating, and it has changed how we should do school.

Photo Credit: Reeding Lessons via Compfight cc

When I was a child, I remember spending so much time going through microfiche to find just the right bit of information to share with the teacher. In those days, finding the right information and recollecting that information was the mark of a good student. 

Today, knowledge and information is at our fingertips. In fact, there is so much information that it's tough to know where to start and what's the best source to use. Therefore, accessing the right information at the right time is more important than just finding information.

Focusing on skills rather than knowledge is a shift in how we do school. It changes what students are taught and how they are taught.

What do these shifts look like in the classroom?
This type of learning is easy to capture because there are artifacts as evidence of learning. I could have gone to any number of AJUSD blogs to look for artifacts, but was able to find a plethora of content to share from Mrs. Hamman's post titled, The End of Another Great Year!

Final thoughts

How we “do school” has changed, and focusing on 21st century learning skills is the shift taking place. We see this shift in the Common Core State Standards, and we see this shift as a necessity to prepare students for college and careers.

Change isn't easy, but it's a necessity. I'm proud of our school district, because we are focused on giving our students 21st century, student-centered classrooms.

• What shifts do you see in how we "do school"?
• Change takes time, and progression occurs one step at a time. What goals have you made to take another step forward this school year?
• What questions or comments do you have regarding this post?

ISTE 2013!

World Stage 
The best way to describe the start to ISTE in San Antonio this year for me is, global. From the moment you arrive at registration,  the global presence is felt. There are thousands in attendance from over 70 countries, almost staggering to think that one conference can bring so many together. ISTE even presented their new logo at the opening keynote, which contains a global flare.

Global Collaboration
To reinforce the global connections that were happening, I attended the Global Collaboration Projects session. This session is a poster session with 30 different booths setup with a small display area. All the projects in this session followed the theme of global collaboration and the highlight is the students that have come to share what they have developed to connect themselves to the world. I met a number of amazing young kids that were so excited to share what their teams have been working on. Yeah, they used technology in their projects to connect with the world, but it wasn't about the technology. It was refreshing to see the shiny gadgets take the back seat as the students described how they developed their ideas, collaborated with others and continue to share their success with the world.

Perspective
It is easy to get wrapped up in the glitz and glamour at ISTE, with all the corporate involvement, the giant tablet giveaway this year, shiny new gadgets, and free pens being handed out :-). I don't have a problem with it, it is part of the show and must exist. Just try and keep things in perspective and remember the students at the global collaboration session over the shiny object.

Social "Media" Bigfoot

Footprint
Here are a few questions that I often hear when social media is being discussed that deserve some attention.

1. What is a social media footprint?
2. How big should it be?
3. Why do I care?

The Numbers
From a pure numbers perspective, it seems to make sense that jumping into the social media landscape can be a benefit to the professional growth model. Facebook currently has over a billion active users a month alone, even if you discount that 100 million of those users are pets, objects, or brands, 900 million is alot of humans. Twitter has 554,750,000 active registered twitter users that tweet on average 58 million times a day according to Statistic Brain.  As of January, 2013, Linkedin reached 200 million users, "LinkedIn now counts over 200 million members as part of our network, with representation in more than 200 countries and territories. We serve our members in 19 languages around the world." Google+ is a bit harder to get a true read on numbers, but even if we go with 135 million users actively posting to Google+ Pages, that is no small number.

Why Do I Care
All the numbers above can be dissected, debated and manipulated for company purposes but I see them as an opportunity to connect with others that run in the same professional circle as myself (no pun intended). I care about growing as an individual and bringing new ideas into the workplace and sharing my successes with others, which is easily done through social media.

                                        How Big

The size of your social media footprint depends on your comfort level in this arena. Some can juggle multiple feeds while others feel overwhelmed with more than one. My suggestion is take your time and find what works for you, and use technology to help you organize. There are a number of programs out there that will help you streamline your feeds and better manage the large amount of information coming in and out of your busy day. HootSuite is one that I have found to be very helpful for me and worth a look if interested in managing multiple streams.

Give It A Try
We often hear the saying that you have to get out of the four walls of your classroom or office to see what is happening out there. That is a true statement as we all know that sharing, collaborating and having an open mindset will help us grow as individuals. To grow professionally you have to care, why not use social media as one option to step outside those walls.

Making Connections

Common Ground

Finding common ground with our students and peers can be a challenge for a variety of reasons. It takes a great amount energy to learn personality types, find common interests and quite honestly be around others that are the complete opposite of ourselves. This is part of life however and great leaders, teachers, schools and communities will rise to this challenge and work hard to create relationships that allow them to be successful.

Classroom Connection
Making connections in the classroom with students is something every teacher works on daily. Walking into a classroom and observing a teacher who connects with each student is truly amazing and takes a special person. A high school teacher in the AJUSD where I work, shared an e-mail about her experience with her son while waiting in line to purchase Halo 4 recently.  I wanted to share her experience as it really sheds light into a world of technology that is just one more way to make connections with many of today's students.

Last night I got to spend seven lovely hours with a subculture of humans in a context that I had never been in....I got to camp out in front of  a Game Stop in a line filled with mostly male teens (and some not so young) with my youngest son waiting to buy the new version of a computer game which came out at midnight (we didn't get our copy until 2 AM)..  I fit in with these "gamers" as perfectly as a biker would at a knitting contest. I have seriously never ever played a computer game (unless you count PacMan in the 80's a couple of times). These typical kids like we see everyday, which we have to drag information from and shove motivation into, were gabbing (yes, actually communicating with expressive tones) for the entire seven hours! They were talking about the new game coming out, the new uniforms on the characters, the battles they had fought, the strategies they had used and were planning to use, the levels they had gone through, the goals they had for the new Halo 4, the expectations they had, the disappointments they'd experienced with the last Halo, the manner in which they would change the game if they were the designer, the gamers they had "met" on line, the best gamers, the worst gamers, their "battlefield" experiences, the planets they had visited, the weapons they would design...and on and on.....there were a lot of words and concepts in there that sounded like total neologisms to me.  The words "giddy with excitement" kept coming to mind... However, it hit me that this was their world.  I was being allowed a peak into it.  Then my brain cells must have started functioning again because I started to realize the potential that was in front of us as educators. If these kids were asked to write, debate, publicly share, design, create, explain, read about, plan, goal set or ANYTHING involving their computer games, I KNOW they would do an amazing job so.....here's my thought to any of you out there who are struggling to reach some of those kids that don't really seem to have much to say or couldn't care less about the subject matter in class or couldn't care less about anything at all.....maybe you want to try approaching it from a gaming standpoint???  Go into their world for a little bit and see what's in there.  I was truly impressed with the critical thinking that I was hearing while in line but I do think it is worth a try....and as educators, trying strategies seems to be what we do everyday to try to reach some of these kids.

Melissa Mel
Special Education Teacher
Apache Junction High School

Relationships
At the end of the day we all know relationships will determine how successful we are in the classroom with our students. Finding common ground through the gaming world is just one way, but a different way that often we as adults my overlook or dismiss. Being an educator involves being in touch with what our students are doing outside of the classroom and we must explore their world. I leave you with a quote from Ms. Mel, "Go into their world for a little bit and see what's in there".

Hey Apple!

Good Stuff
I like Mac's as much as I like PC's, each have their strengths and I use both on a daily basis. When it comes to tablets however, my personal preference is still the iPad. I am not going to get all Apple fanatical about it, but there are many reasons I feel they are great devices. However one area of frustration I have had with the iPad is syncing multiple iPads in my school district. We have 18 Bretford Powersync carts that hold 30 iPads each and allow charging and syncing to all 30 iPads simultaneously. The carts are used at 4 elementary and one jr. high school and after a year of use, I needed to reflect and come up with a better plan for the new school year.

Go iPads
The carts are primarily used in the K-3 classrooms and shared between rooms, which opens up the way each school has decided to manage them. The positive of not bringing in the devices and trying to dictate how the devices can be checked out or rotated has allowed each school to be creative with their plans. Initial training with Tony Vincent was a great introduction for teachers to see how the devices can be used for creation and not just as a "station" in the classroom. Our Special Education department has also used the iPads and a variety of specific communication apps to open up opportunities for a number of students. I feel we are in the early stages of realizing what the devices can do and look forward to seeing how our teachers use them again this year in their classrooms.

Train Wreck

Moving from 10 iPads as a pilot to 13 carts in one year brought a number of challenges. The Bretford carts worked great, but at the time there wasn't a way to efficiently sync 30 iPads at once without mass confusion, and the only option through Apple was iTunes. I thought it would be a no brainer to sync all the carts using one MacBook and one Apple ID. Let's just say that if you can do this and your are successful, you are a genius and my hat is off to you. For me, it was a gigantic train wreck that I will spare you the details, but iTunes was created for the individual and not the classroom, so I understand.  The question when reflecting on the situation was how could a more efficient approach allow the teachers freedom to still download apps that they decide are right for their students/curriculum and not have it become a giant mess? It also has to be a solution that can be managed by the teachers and not rely on tech services.

Let's Try It
After many hours of talking with peers, co-workers, Apple, etc., we have decided to use Apple Configurator. Turns out I wasn't the only one banging my head against the wall trying to manage multiple iPads and Apple decided to try and create a solution that would possibly meet the needs of many in the same boat. We have bought MacBook Airs for each of our carts and I have managed to setup 5 new carts with Configurator, ready to roll them out and see how it goes. Each cart will now be shared by a grade level and the 4 teachers will have to colloborate on app management using Configurator after I provide basic training.

Share It
I will definitely make it a point to do a follow up once things are rolling and all 18 carts have been setup with their MacBook and Configurator. In the meantime, please feel free to share any helpful tricks and tips you may have found with multiple iPad syncing, the more collaboration the better!

Time To Reflect

Time Time Time

Time is one of those things that we never seem to have enough of and it flies by like a supersonic jet! Each school year seems to be getting shorter and shorter or maybe it is because I am getting older, I mean wiser. At any rate, reflection is a very important piece of our daily lives and critical to our success. This past school year there has been a number of experiences that I have reflected upon and would like to share a couple. Please feel free to provide feedback on your experiences also, it helps to read about how others are processing and dealing with similar situations.

www.ajusd.org/ccjh

There are many exciting initiatives going on in my district, but finishing the first complete school year in which our 7th and 8th graders were taking their devices to and from school has brought mixed emotions for me. Educationally, our teachers and students have done an amazing job with the transition and I am looking forward to reviewing this years test scores when they are made available. On the technical side of things, there were a few bumps and even though our local area network connections are robust, our Internet connection is a bit lacking. But those things can be worked on and the 1:1 technician, Mr. Frahm, has done a great job. Not only has he kept the student devices in running order, but the students all know just how important it is to have a great technician on campus to assist them when needed.

One of the difficult pieces for me personally has been the number of devices that have been dropped over the last year. When comparing numbers with other 1:1 programs our overall device loss is within reason, but damage due to dropping seems higher than I would prefer. Here is where I would appreciate some feedback, the devices are not being dropped at school, it is when they are outside the campus. We know this because when at school, the rule is the device stays in the provided carrying case when opened. Little plug for Higher Ground cases, they can pop open the case in seconds and the device never has to be removed, protecting it from a fall. So the question is how to continue working on educating the students to care for their device when away from school?

Collaboration Coaches

Earlier this month a new group of teachers met and began their journey together as the third new group of AJUSD collaboration coaches. Our district's Technology Integration Specialist, Tracy Watanabe, has done an amazing job with building our collaboration coaching program and in my opinion, coaches are key to a successful campus. Watanabe does a great job of explaining how collaboration coaches have worked together in our district to bring 21st century learning skills into our classrooms, click here. A bit of reflection on this topic makes on thing clear to me, I need to spend more time in the coaches classrooms and sitting in on collaboration meetings this fall. Experiencing the relationship building and the sharing of ideas among these professionals is truly inspiring.

                                                                      

Thanks to gbuffet

Take A Moment
Often we become so consumed with planning for the summer or that next big project, we forget to reflect on what we have already done, what worked well, what failed, how we can incorporate prior knowledge into future planning. I only shared two of many experiences that I needed to reflect upon before the busy summer months began, unfortunately time often flies by like that jet I mentioned earlier. Being focused is important, but so is reflection, take a moment, find a quiet place for some inward thinking and call it a day.

Creative Juices

Take A Moment
It is hard to ignore the countless articles, blogs, tweets, etc. about creativity being lost in our school system these days. To some extent I don't disagree we are putting certain practices in place that can be stifling to the creativity that our students possess. But take a moment and reflect on what we have accomplished as a nation and where we are at. Yes we have many issues that can seem depressing at times, but in my opinion, we still have incredible schools, many opportunities, and creative citizens sharing and working with people around the globe!

courtesy of betterworldbooks.com

I am currently participating in a book study with the ISTE SIGAdmin group, reading the book, "The Flat World and Education." There is mention in the book about Singapore's educational reform and their focus on creativity and innovation, what grabbed my attention was a response by one of the SIGAdmin members about this program.

What is even more interesting is that the "training" the teachers are receiving is being done by, (you'll never believe it), teachers from the United States. True! A very dear friend of mine "commutes" to Singapore monthly to work with 240 teachers for 10 days a month in one of their training programs. my friend says that "the teachers are marvelous and "she returns quite inspired each month." -Becky

As a nation, we should be proud that many countries still turn to the United States for training, observation, and ideas, on how to educate their students to become creative and innovative thinkers. But how do we keep creativity and innovation in the classrooms, many think it is already gone others on the way out?

Keep Them Flowing
So where does technology fit into the puzzle with developing creators and how do we keep the creative juices flowing? As I always like to point out, we must keep the focus on "good teaching" and not the shiny object, and I recently read a grant proposal that stood out as an example of this. Robert Jones, a English teacher in Tempe, AZ, is having his students create Android apps that they will use to review and synthesize literature. The students will then make the apps available to download on their Android tablets or other compatible devices. The project has what I feel are all the right pieces that support innovation and creation in the classroom and the English content standards were the foundation when the project based activity was designed.

courtesy of http://wiki.makerbot.com/

Another technology device that I am amazed with is the 3D printer. Maybe it is just a shiny object that is distracting to me personally, but it seems like the device has a tremendous amount of potential to be used in schools. What better way to incorporate essential standards into a project based activity and actually be able to build a product, literally have it appear right in front of you. I learned about the Makerbot, an affordable 3D printer, from John Miller, Tech Director at Litchfield Elementary, last year. After showing a video of the device to my son, he immediately wanted one so he could make armies of Lego characters and blocks for stopmotion movies. Can only imagine how I could have used this in the classroom many years ago.

Looking Ahead
Developing creative and innovative students is important for any society to be successful and should be a priority around the world. Great things come from new ideas...jobs, success, personal satisfaction, and the understanding that if something isn't working, innovate and make it better. I hope that as a nation we do not lose sight of what has worked in the past, continue to evolve so we are relevant in the present, and develop creators to lead us into the future.

The Role of IT

Amazing Group
I am very fortunate to be on the AZ CIO/CTO Conference planning committee, which works closely with Converge (@convergemag) to make the conference possible. The conference is a product of the AZ CIO/CTO group that is made up of CIO, CTO's, Directors, and other AZ educational IT staff. What is so refreshing about the planning committee and the group in general, is the desire to influence change in the classroom using technology as the catalyst. When planning the most recent conference, the discussion was focused on pedagogy, leadership, and how we could share thoughts on innovation with our audience. Yes the techie piece was still a part of the conversation, but a small part in the big picture. You may be thinking what is so great about that, but I would ask you to stop and think about your district's IT department and what their role is in the organization. Do they just manage devices or do they influence change?


Influence Change
The keynote speaker at the conference was Dan Thurmon (@DanThurmon), and his philosophy is based around, "Success in life is not determined by your circumstances, but by your actions." One of the statements that he made was, "you can't always control the situation, but you can influence it." I very much agree with that statement and believe that as technology directors and IT staff, we can and should operate as 360 degree leaders. John Maxwell talks about leading down, up and across in organizations and how you can expand your influence and become a more valuable team member in his book, The 360 Degree Leader. You may not always be able to control a situation, but you can spend time talking with your superintendent, working with principals, spending time in classrooms and leading your tech staff to be 360 degree leaders also. 

Why So Motivated
I may be generalizing a bit here, or maybe AZ just has the best group of educational IT staff around, but CIO/CTO's and techies in general are not afraid of change. Maybe it is because we are used to the rate that technology changes everyday, or the infinite number of possibilities that can cause a piece of software not to run properly. Whatever the reason is, district tech staff can be innovators and can influence change across a school district, they reach classrooms on a daily basis. What is the role of your district's IT staff, do they just fix devices and manage the network, or do they influence change and innovate?

Innovation Center

There were a number of great sessions at the CIO/CTO conference I mentioned earlier, but one that motivated me to write about the day and IT department was John Miller's session, Innovation Centers. Here is the session description.

Twenty-first century innovation is a symphony of the arts and sciences to design beautiful products and services in new ways. Innovation centers prepare a generation of creators with self-directed teams of students learning through active creation. They are a mash-up of science experiment, art project, music class, multimedia lab and innovation playground. With the help of a trained facilitator, students select, lead and manage their own projects, developing empathy, teamwork, independence and creativity. Evolve beyond the computer lab or Media Center to student Innovation Centers. Transform the digital native to the innovation native.

John truly believes that IT staff can help bring innovation into the classroom and he is working closely with one of his district's elementary schools to create an innovation center that focuses on keeping the creativity in learning. I wanted to end with a picture that John recently shared of the door to his IT department, nice to see department names and titles starting to change to reflect the 21st century.

Students Speak

Kick It Off
Every year in my district we have a welcome back day for all district staff. It usually consists of some kind of breakfast or lunch, a guest speaker or district admin delivering the welcome back message. It is a difficult couple hours to plan as feedback is always mixed on these type of events, and with tight budgets, outside guest speakers are not an option for us.

The Green Light
Our Superintendent, Dr. Chad Wilson, is a dynamic public speaker, he does a great job communicating his expectations for the district and recognizing successes. One element that I thought would be beneficial for this years welcome back, would be to hear from our students, listen to what they feel is working and what they hope to see this school year. With the go ahead from Dr. Wilson, I set off to figure out how to make this happen. With help from Tracy Watanabe, we gathered a group of students from across K-12, and invited them in for a short two question interview. Their responses were not prompted or edited for effect, just honest.



Coming Together
With all the negativity around public education right now I think it is important to share the good things that are happening out there while not losing sight of the high expectations we must hold ourselves too as educators. Our welcome back day this year had a different feel to it than previous years and hearing from our students and teachers (see Reflections video below), things are coming together. We have a ways to go before all students are college ready by the time they leave us, but we are off to a great start.



Thank You
I want to thank all the AJUSD students and parents for taking the time and allowing their children to share their thoughts with us. They were amazing! I would also like to thank Tracy Watanabe for all her assistance with the project and Dr. Wilson for always allowing us to run with our ideas.

Not the end...

Publish It
I began the final day at ISTE 2011 attending the session, "Writing for an ISTE Publication." I am not sure if people are aware just how many publications that ISTE has in circulation, but I suggest checking them out here, there is something for everyone.

Vendor Row
I waited until the final day to really spend any meaningful time in the exhibit hall. I was discussing with my colleagues the days when we used to attend Comdex in Las Vegas during the height of the tech boom. Vendors had gigantic exhibits, some with live music, showgirls, one company even had people high in the air swinging around like Cirque du Soleil! It really was over the top and hard to figure out what some were even trying to sell. The ISTE 2011 exhibit hall was very nice, easy to get around, and had a nice vendor presence. I was able to make some meaningful contacts with a few of the vendors we use and put a few names to faces.

Wrap up
The closing keynote was amazing and started off with the group Street Beats Group, who performed an amazing glow in the dark percussion piece. Their performance was followed by a well done animation by Youth Voices, "Who Do You Think You Are" (both can be watched in the video below).

Chris Lehmann was the closing keynote, but before he took the stage, he had a group of his students present their poetry slam and that was a very emotional piece that moved the entire audience, I would recommend sharing with your staff and not just teaching staff, but any staff in your district. The importance of my technology staff understanding today's students is monumental in helping to clearly define our role in the organization, I believe this applies to every person working on a school campus.

It is difficult to describe Chris Lehmann's keynote in just a few words, but I will just say that he is very passionate about kids and learning and a great inspiration for all educators. It is very obvious that Chris wants to see our kids not just become 21st Century workers, but 21st Century citizens. Take the time to be inspired and watch his keynote address along with the other closing performances below.

You can never doubt the wisdom of the voices of students
-Chris Lehmann

ISTE 2012
Thanks for following my blog this week and I hope to be attending ISTE 2012 in San Diego. Feel free to follow, comment, and share your thoughts here at "this and that" and follow on twitter @jcastelhano.

The Birds-ISTE Update

Tech Commandments
Catchy name for a session led by Adam Bellow, check out the eduTecher blog. He started the session on a good note by saying there would be no


which at that point I figured this was going to be a no lose session. Adam had some great quotes and information he shared, few of them below.

"Training needs to be a priority, but not all about hardware and software"
"Educational technology is not all about stuff"
"I don't like students using cell phones because they know more than me and look things up"
"Any teacher who can be replaced by a robot should be"
"Lies my teacher told me"
"Be like the kids, be stubborn and resilient, don't give up"
"Collaboration is the 21st century skill"

Leading in 3D
This session was lead by Chris Oneal and very relevant for principals and how to be a technology leader by modeling. Check out his wiki, here is a quick question for principals from Chris.

Do you lead by example? Teachers and other instructional staff look to you to demonstrate a commitment to technology through efforts that make sense for your job, yet define the expectations you have for technology use across the board.

Birds-of-a-Feather
I ended the day with a birds session on 1:1 computing and was excited for this one as it was more of a round table discussion. It was interesting hearing about what a district or two in Australia was doing with their 1:1 initiative and others experiences in their adventures to change the learning in their own little part of the world.

Thanks for reading and I will try and post one more time tomorrow as I am running a day behind now!

Blogging at ISTE!

Part I

My first visit to an ISTE conference was in 2009, in Washington DC. Not only was the conference amazing for a number of reasons, but it was also my first trip to the nation's capital. I was able to take part in a number of great sessions, listen to amazing keynote speakers, and also get in a little sight seeing as well. Seeing the capital for the first time and meeting the Obama's at the conference, you can see from the picture below I was a little nervous, was a great experience.

Part II

I was not able to attend the conference in 2010, but will be attending this year in Philadelphia in just a few short days. I am again excited for the trip and what makes this trip more special than the first is we are able to take a small group of teachers along! I can't wait for them to experience the week and have them bring back their experience to other teachers in our district, sharing resources, ideas, and general conversation will benefit each of our schools. I have also decided to use the conference planner this year, novel idea right, and should be able to cram in almost everything that I want to attend.

Blog Away
I am going to give it my best shot to blog my experiences throughout the week while attending the conference. Here is my disclaimer, I am not quite sure what kind of random thoughts, resources, or experiences I will end up sharing, but going to try and capture the experience and not just session by session type of info. So check back during the week and enjoy!