Category — Multimedia Content

In our last post we noted the growing body of research regarding seniors and the topic of brain fitness. We noted the words of Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, a clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine and the co-founder of SharpBrains.

Dr. Goldberg has written extensively on the topic and we noted two quotes that seemed to be particularly apropos. First, “Exercising our brains systematically is as important as exercising our bodies,” states Goldberg.

Second he offers a far more meaningful viewpoint of the need for brain fitness. Goldberg has converted the longstanding statement, “Use it or lose it,” to a more modern version of the brain fitness notion, “Use it and get more of it.”

We referenced again and again a recent NY Times piece that sought to take an in depth look at the notion. The Times indicated that baby boomers are paying attention: “boomers are seizing on a mounting body of evidence that suggests that brains contain more plasticity than previously thought, and many people are taking matters into their own hands, doing brain fitness exercises with the same intensity with which they attack a treadmill.”

At the same time we noted a certain level of skepticism that emerged as writer Katie Hafner explored the topic. She noted the concerns of baby boomers regarding memory loss and the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s but then wondered aloud if an industry was developing that was “making money on that generation’s fears.”

As the issue of brain fitness garners greater interest, this new industry that is emerging should in fact have a body of research behind it. It is imperative that serious consumers have a specific application or site they can turn to that unequivocally can deliver the goods.

One New Site Receiving a Great Deal of Interest
Today we take some time to talk with the folks at Lumosity.com, one of these new web sites devoted to the issue of brain fitness. One aspect that attracted us to the site was the following mission statement, one that appears designed to focus upon the delivery of a much needed service rather than preying on the fears of a generation.

The site stipulates: “Our mission is to create innovative neuroscience-based tools that empower people to lead better lives through better brain health and performance.” With such a mission and its research-based approach, Lomosity has caught the attention of some big time investment firms garnering $3 million of equity financing from Pequot Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and existing investors including Michael Dearing.

“Lumos Labs is at the center of a booming interest in cognitive exercise and the emerging science about the remarkable plasticity of the brain,” said Amish Jani of Pequot Ventures. “Lumosity.com has seen tremendous demand from users and partners alike by leveraging the power of the web to deliver a unique platform for brain fitness.”

Leaving no doubt as to the need to balance business potential with the need to have a service that users can count on to deliver on the brain fitness notion, Tim Chang of Norwest Venture Partners offered the following assessment.

“In our analysis, Lumosity.com stood out from its competitors because of its best-in-class combination of engaging games and scientific rigor. This unique combination has led to a strong market demand for Lumosity.com’s offerings and has created a leader in the emerging market for brain fitness.”

Michael Scanlon, the Chief Scientific Officer at Lumos Labs, clearly sees the investment as a critical step in the process of creating web based applications that seek to address the issue of brain fitness.

“We’re excited to take basic neuroscience and psychology findings out of the lab and deliver them to consumers in a way that is actually improving their lives,” notes Scanlon. “This investment will enable us to significantly expand the diversity of games we offer, while further advancing the field through creative innovations and research with our academic collaborators.”

To give our readers a sense of the topic as well as the level of scientific rigor behind a new site like Lumosity, we provide a Q&A with Michael Scanlon. The Chief Scientific Officer for Lumos Labs explains the site, a bit about the current materials available and where the research is headed.

It should be noted that one key aspect of the Lumos work centers upon the notion of brain fitness and development irrespective of age group. Though there clearly is great interest in this topic as it relates to seniors, we were impressed to see that Lumos is looking at the topic at all age levels. It is our belief at OpenEducation that games and web based applications that would help develop the intellectual capabilities of school age children is as important a field to research as that of maintaining the current brain fitness levels of aging baby boomers.

How long has the site Lumosity.com been in existence? Can you give us a sense of your level of subscribers at the beginning and where those numbers are at now? And where did the name Lumosity come from?

In 2005, Dave Drescher, Kunal Sarkar, and I quit our jobs in gaming/programming, private equity, and neuroscience, respectively to start Lumos Labs (the company that created Lumosity.com). We’ve been working on Lumosity since then – primarily in development and research – and then launched the site in 2007. We’ve been a subscription service since July 2007, and are now proud to have more online users and traffic than all other similar sites combined.

“Lumos” is Latin for light, so we liked the sound of “Lumos Labs” for a science and gaming company that aims to help people “illuminate” their thinking in a fun but research-based way. “Lumosity” is a better product name (though everyone makes the “Luminosity” mistake…)

In a couple of sentences, can you give a brief explanation of your general mission and the current target audience/age demographic for the site?

“Our mission is to create innovative neuroscience-based tools that empower people to lead better lives through better brain health and performance.”

Our advisory board helps us achieve this mission. An important piece that is not reflected in the mission statement is our desire to make the user’s experience enjoyable. If we can make treadmills and dumbbells really fun, make broccoli and fish oil taste good, then everyone would be a lot healthier.

Our audience is broad, ages range from 9-90s, and our users tend to be healthy and educated. Lots of young professionals and students use the software to be able to perform better at their job or at school.

Can you talk about the specific games/activities available on your site? Are they unique, who developed them and what research/testing has been done to ascertain the impacts of each of these games on cognitive function and brain fitness?

All of the games on our site are unique and were developed by Lumos Labs. Most of them are based on tasks previously used in a research lab and demonstrated to enhance some cognitive ability. Since they undergo some change when going from lab to online game, we do our own randomized, controlled trials to measure their efficacy. Not too surprisingly, everybody improves at the games themselves. What’s more interesting is that their improvements transfer to other, non-trained tests of cognitive function such as working memory, visual attention, and executive function.

We’re also very involved in the academic research community, especially at Stanford where I went to grad school. Increasingly, the scientific validation is being done by un-affiliated researchers at these institutions, which is especially good because it removes any perceived conflict of interest.

There are many new applications of cognitive training that we’re just now beginning to explore. I think in the next few years we’ll see some really exciting new applications for this type of training, and we want to spearhead much of this exploration and research.

Your site appears to offer organized training sessions – essentially an almost course-like format. Can you talk a little bit about the organized programming versus the person who simply wants to stop by the site and take the lead themselves?

We figured some users would want the structure and guidance of the training program, and that others would want the flexibility to do whatever they want. So we provided both options. The default is the organized training program because this ensures a variety of training in different areas. The ‘Basic Training’ is 30 sessions long, and when it’s completed there is an option to enroll in a new course for memory or processing speed – more new courses are coming soon.

Are there specific advantages to your being an online program versus say a person purchasing a hand-held game or a piece of software for their own home computer?

Yes. First, we constantly update the program with new features and exercises, and respond to user feedback to improve the existing games. Because it’s web-based, everyone has the most up-to-date version. Second, game results and test data is all saved on our servers, allowing us to learn more about what works and optimize the games. Third, it can be used on different computers – at home, at work, etc. – just need to log in at the website. And fourth, doctors and teachers can monitor their patient’s/student’s progress (if the patient/student gives permission).

In one of our earlier communications you mentioned developing possible games/activities for children including those in middle school and high school. Can you talk a little bit about this aspect including future plans related to this age group (as well as any other developing materials in the works)?

I think that this sort of training/gaming can be a powerful complement to traditional classroom methods. There are several experiments underway with exciting preliminary results, but I can’t discuss in detail because the researchers want it confidential until they publish.

Some teachers are doing pilot testing in the classroom. One 6th grade math teacher just found that his students were significantly better at arithmetic after doing 30 sessions of Lumosity.

Conclusion
Our site readers know first hand of our interest in video games and the possibility for such games to enhance learning. At OpenEducation.net we strongly believe that properly developed and scientifically researched video games could transform teaching and learning in the near future.

In our eyes, the Lumosity site represents an intriguing mix of potential, one that seeks to address the notion of brain fitness in seniors but is also examining the idea of brain fitness for users as young as nine. Interested readers may sign up for a 7-day free trial here. At the end of the trial, users can then sign up for either a monthly subscription ($9.95/month) or for a full year of access ($79.95).

Brain images/photos courtesy of jj_judes, sunface13, and peta-de-aztlan.

As another school year winds down those teachers with some time left in the school year have a golden opportunity to infuse real world excitement into what can often be a mundane end of the year countdown. With the successful landing of the NASA Mars Phoenix Lander spacecraft on Sunday, teachers have an incredible educational opportunity, one that offers the chance to bring science and technology together with endless learning possibilities for students of every age and grade level.

A simple examination of the many images available on the web, from those that revealed a spacecraft in good condition after the first ever successful landing in a polar region of Mars to those that simulate the future actions of the robotic arm for exploration, would make an interesting single day lesson. A further discussion of the soft-landing that ended a 422-million-mile journey and the upcoming three-month mission to “taste and sniff the northern polar site’s soil and ice” would also be a great single day topic.

A more in depth scientific study would involve the review of the final landing stages. Those last seven minutes of descent to the planet saw a spacecraft enter orbit at 12,000 mph and experience friction-related temperatures exceeding 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit would also yield a wealth of learning potential. Discuss the role of the rocket thrusters and the parachute that helped the craft successfully manage the first soft Mars landing since 1976. Also, have students look into the repositioning of the craft as it landed so that its solar panels could properly catch the sun’s energy and power the craft in the months ahead.

Other Deeper Lessons for Students
For those looking for computer applications, the landing may well be one of the best ways to bring both the computer and science to life in the classroom. There are a wealth of internet sites available beginning with the Phoenix Mars Mission web site that offers up to date information on the topic as well as a complete explanation of the goals of the mission. The site offers a link to explain the Phoenix Mars Mission as the first in NASA’s “Scout Program”, a low-cost method for future missions categorized as major undertakings. The site also features a direct connection to the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (Arizona is the first public university to lead a mission to Mars).

On the site is an education link that offers several sub links to a “Just For Kids” web page as well as “The Phoenix Classroom” web page. It also features a link to the “Mars Exploration Rover Mission” classroom activities. Still other sites are available for teachers including the Passport to Knowledge.

But with the internet, the sky is the limit for teachers to create additional lesson plans and research options. For example, the current landing on Mars represented only the fifth successful in eleven attempts, an issue that would prove to be an excellent research topic; one group of students could research the reason’s for failure, another the costs associated with the near misses, and yet a third research how those failures changed future missions. At the same time other groups could parallel the exploration of Mars with our prior exploration of the moon, again with sub groups taking on specific tasks.

Other aspects of science, from the solar powered research machinery to an understanding of how the robotic arm will search for traces of water, represent potential study for students. Again, the possibilities for real world science based on a relevant event are unlimited.

For teachers, a creative list of questions with specific topic formats open to student selection would give great ownership to students yet provide a diverse set of classroom experiences. In addition, students reporting out in some form of presentation format would ensure exposure of an entire class to a wealth of information.

The Wonder of Space Travel
But perhaps the greatest excitement with younger students would come with a simultaneous exploration into various literature on space travel. A thematic unit with one of the many science fiction novels that discuss space travel is a distinct possibility for the creative teacher with a little ingenuity.

And kudos to that teacher with the real gift who understands that creativity and imagination are so critical for children. If somehow, someway teachers can bring the full wonderment of the moment to their classroom and help students dream, perhaps they could help students feel that “one of the first human explorers to set foot on Mars could well be one of the students in their very classroom” (Passport to Knowledge).

Whatever the case, the Mars Mission provides teachers a golden opportunity to spice up the classroom as this school year heads to its final days or to create a special project for when the next school year opens in August.

Back in March, we did a three-part segment on violent video games. At the time, we did a Q & A with one of the authors of the ground-breaking study, Grand Theft Childhood. Harvard Professor Cheryl Olson contradicted many of the general tenets regarding violent video games, especially the idea that such games are the bane of civilized society.

Two months later, at the time that Grand Theft Auto IV is setting new records for sales, we offer a follow-up with the co-author of Grand Theft Childhood, fellow Harvard professor Lawrence Kutner. Dr. Kutner has written extensively on parenting topics and is the author of five previous books about child psychology and parent-child communication.

We asked Dr. Kutner about the reception Grand Theft Childhood has received both with the general public and within the academic community. We also asked him about some of the criticisms of the study as well as those areas of research that deserve greater study in the future. Finally, we threw some questions his way about GTA IV, in particular his thoughts about MADD’s response to one aspect of the game and the many pundits railing against the game.

As with our first post with Dr. Olson, we are sure you will be intrigued by what the professor has to say.

Can you give us an overview of the general reaction you have received to the release of your study? My understanding is that you have been doing a number of radio talk shows and discussing your work with a whole host of media outlets. Could you review with our readers some of the folks with whom you have been discussing your work and what has been the general response of those media outlets?

There has been a tremendous amount of interest and support from both sides of the political spectrum, ranging from Barry Lynn, a liberal radio talk show host (Culture Shocks), to Adam Thierer of the conservative think tank The Progress and Freedom Foundation. For the most part, people appreciate the nature and approach of our research and our attempts to put our and others’ findings into perspective.

We’ve spent a lot of time on both commercial and public talk radio, including stations in Canada and Ireland as well as throughout the US. National Public Radio’s “On the Media” did a long piece on our findings. So did the CBC. Gil Gross of KGO Radio in San Francisco, the #1 news-talk station in the US, did an hour on the book. We will have that on our website soon. Even the nationally syndicated morning shock jock Mancow did an interview segment.

In print, we’ve been on page 1 of USA Today and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and on page 1 of a section of the Washington Post. Reuters just did a feature story on us along with a highly laudatory review. Publications outside the US such as The Globe and Mail and The Age and specialty publications like PC World have also given us coverage in print and/or electronic versions.
The most widely distributed television appearance was on the program “X-Play” on theG4 network, which focuses on video games. It was picked up by literally thousands of blogs for and by gamers. Cheryl was interviewed on CNN by Glenn Beck, who cut her off several times, apparently because her data contradicted his opinions.

“There have been other times when our findings and analyses have been cherry-picked by people wanting to force-fit our data to support their own biases. For example, the evening GTA-IV was released, Cheryl was interviewed by two Boston-area television stations. One set up her sound bites by saying that “some researchers say that there’s nothing to worry about.” The other said, “Some researchers are very worried.” Neither statement is an accurate reflection of our research.

One thing we did not think to ask you earlier was about the reaction of the Harvard community or that of others in academia? What has been the reaction of those folks to your study and the subsequent release of the book?

People in academia—even those whose research we criticize—have generally been supportive. They may disagree, but they see the value in what we’ve done. Only rarely have they engaged in ad hominem attacks.

Would you categorize your book as an academic text or as some other classification? And how has it been doing thus far as compared to initial expectations?

This is clearly a popular book, not an academic text—although some professors have told us that they want to assign it in their classes. It’s aimed at the intelligent reader who wants to understand more about kids and video games.

It’s been striking how many people who are neither gamers nor parents have expressed interest in our work.

We see where at least one person has taken strong exception to your findings, referring to the work as “industrial strength whitewash.” Could you comment a bit on that critique? Have there been any other such negative reviews of your study?

Any good book draws critics. That quote was from a review written for Library Journal by a 73-year-old private practice psychiatrist whose expertise is on the influence of Otto Rank on psychoanalysis. While he’s entitled to his opinion, of course, it’s unclear why he was selected to critique the book. By the way, a few days after this review was published, Larry was approached by the American Library Association about giving a keynote address at its upcoming national conference on the use of games in libraries. That gives you an idea of how influential that review was with librarians.

We’re sure that others will find fault with our book, and hope that their criticisms sharpen our thinking and add to the quality of future studies.

Based on the release and the questions you are receiving, are there some aspects of your study that perhaps you wished you had spent more time on or specific questions you wished you had researched but did not? Will any of this lead to follow up studies in the future?

There are several areas that we wish we had explored but could not due to financial and time constraints. We did not anticipate when we started that M-rated games would be as popular with girls as they actually were. This deserves more research. We would like to study a sample of teenagers who have gotten into trouble with the law because of violent behavior, to see how their patterns of video game play may differ. Also, it would be useful to do some different types of studies that involve watching how kids actually play the games (and perhaps to measure their physiological responses) in a typical (non-lab) environment.
Whether we, or someone else, do these studies will depend upon funding.


The recent release of Grand Theft Auto IV has been met with some scathing rebukes. One has come from MADD regarding a section of the game where a car is driven by an intoxicated driver. Would you be willing to provide your thoughts on this based on your prior research? Is this much ado about nothing or have the makers of GTA gone one step too far?

We haven’t played GTA IV yet, so our awareness of this scene comes solely from articles like that. It would be interesting to see if teenage players interpret the scene the same way that MADD apparently does. Our understanding is that the experience of being unable to control the virtual car in the game is aversive, and may actually deter drunk driving. It’s worth investigating.

We will probably end up buying an Xbox 360 or PS3 so we can play GTA IV ourselves and make more informed comments.

Susan Estrich, a syndicated columnist also rails strongly against GTA IV in a recent column. Having done your research, what thoughts go through your mind when you read such an editorial? Is this still the most common reaction people have to these games?

This is strikingly similar to the concerns over and editorials against comic books, radio, gangster films and—back in the late 19th century—the evil influence of paperback novels on teenage girls. None of those bore out. Each time, the pundits and politicians said that earlier concerns may have been silly, but that this time it’s different. So far it hasn’t been.

She says, “It’s not my son I’m really worried about…. It’s his generation, the generation that he is going to grow up in and live with, full of kids who take this stuff for granted and spend more time with it than with real life, that worries me.” We heard that—my kid’s fine, it’s the other kids who are at risk—time and again from parents in focus groups. Many of them had “heard stories” about kids who got into trouble or even died because of video games, but none of them actually knew anyone who did so. It seems to be another set of urban legends.

She also engages in hyperbole in her attacks, stating that kids “spend more time with [video games] than with real life.” Think about that for a second. It’s a dramatic statement, but is it true? Our study found that only 13 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls spent 15 or more hours per week playing video games. Assuming 8 hours/night for sleep, a child would have to spend more than 56 hours per week playing video games to meet her criterion. We’ve only seen that among an extremely small group of gamers not in our study whose serious emotional problems were manifest in other ways—it’s certainly not the norm!

Similarly, we’ve heard statements describing the GTA series as including opportunities for gamers to rape women as part of the game. We’ve been unable to find any instances of this, although there are opportunities for characters to have sex with prostitutes. Yet such hyperbolic statements are rarely challenged in and by the media, perhaps because they’re so effective at grabbing attention.

Most of the parents we spoke with who had actually seen a GTA game recognized that it was satire. Their concerns were not this type of knee-jerk reaction, but were more nuanced, such as whether their children would understand the essence of that satire and the cultural allusions.

Editor: Many thanks to both Dr. Kutner and Dr. Olson for their time – for those wishing to hear more about this groundbreaking study, the many links after the first question will provide readers a wealth of additional information.

Our good friend Chris Wilson over at “The Graphic Classroom” has some information about this Saturday’s “Free Comic Book Day (FCBD).” The program began six years ago and the give away is designed to promote comics among those who are not yet comic readers.

According to Wilson, thousands of comic book stores throughout the nation will participate. They will be giving away comics designated and printed especially for FCBD.

Those comics to be given away will have the following logo:

For more details see the Graphic Classroom – Chris has links that will give folks a sense of the comics that will be available.

Earlier this year we interviewed Chris regarding the growing interest in using comic books as an educational tool.

FaceBooking – Unbecoming Teacher Behavior
A recent Washington Post article features the challenges of teachers who choose to create Facebook or MySpace profiles that are risqué and unbecoming of the professional status of those in education. The article asks two enormously important questions: do such “pages matter if teacher performance is not hindered and if students, parents and school officials don’t see them?” And, “at what point are these young teachers judged by the standards for public officials?”

In states including Florida, Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts, teachers have been removed or suspended for MySpace postings. While many teachers put social networking sites or personal Web pages to constructive use still others push the limits of good taste.

We forgo the details of these inappropriate postings but the Post article offers many examples. Suffice it to say that for those of us who insist teachers should be role models for children, these saucy profile pages are extremely troubling.

Is a Person’s IQ Fixed?
Over at NewScientist.com is a very interesting article regarding increasing intellect. A group of neuropsychologists claims that there is now a specific task that can add points to a person’s IQ. Most importantly, they contend that the harder a person trains with the task the greater the increase.

The discussion is about the concept of “fluid intelligence”, or Gf. It is defined as the ability to reason, solve new problems and think in the abstract and correlates with professional and educational success. Most importantly, the general thinking is that Gf is largely genetic.

While training helps one get better at a specific task, generally speaking training does not always transfer to improvement in other tasks. Not so in this new study.

The training exercise seems rather innocuous. A person tracks small squares on a screen, squares that appear in a new location every so many seconds. When a square appears in a location that is a duplicate of the position two views earlier, the trainee pushes a button.

Simultaneously, the trainee listens to consonants through headphones and pushes a button if the consonant heard is the same as two plays earlier. As trainees gain skill, the interval moves to three stages apart, then four, etc.

The researchers gave trainees IQ tests before and after specific training intervals. The result, those who did the training scored higher and the more they trained, the higher they scored.

For more on this interesting study, see NewScientist.com.

Great Resource for the College Bound
For those interested in a great resource, a new site we recently discovered has great potential. The site, SparkNotes.com, offers five separate link categories, SparkNotes Study Guides, No Fear Shakespeare, College Search, Spark Charts, Spark Life, and Spark Test Prep.

The test prep link alone contains a wealth of resources regarding preparation for the SAT, the ACT, various AP Exams, the LSAT and even the GRE. The site offers a wealth of free materials as well as additional supplemental materials for purchase.

As an example, for the SAT there is a list of upcoming test dates, a link to take a free SAT mini-test as well as a practice test. The site also offers a link to read a test booklet for free, a resource called Power Tactics, also free, as well as access to a message board.

Once on the site additional test copies can purchased for $4.95. In addition, there are other study links and resources on each of the sub pages.

Clearly the site has a great deal to offer those high schoolers getting near the college choice and the subsequent related testing aspects.

In our continued quest to bring our readers information about the use of technology in the classroom, today we talk with David Sherman, the principal of South Park Elementary School in Deerfield, Illinois, about the role the school leader can play in classroom technology use. Sherman began his career 21 years ago teaching fifth grade and for the past 14 years he has been in administration, the last three years as principal at South Park.

Sherman maintains two blogs, the “Principal and Interest“and “The Principal’s Page.” On his blogs one will find a wealth of information, from posts about “Teaching and Modeling Responsibility (“Do as I do, and as I say” should be our motto!) to the age old question we all face when raising children, “Protect or Prepare: Which is better for children?” In addition, Sherman is a regular contributor to the educational leadership blog Leader Talk.

The South Park Principal is a strong proponent of the use of Web 2.0 technologies in his school and community. With research pointing to the important role of leadership on school climate and instructional practice, we thought it would be interesting to talk with an administrator regarding the use of Web 2.0 tools and fostering teacher use of technology with students.

Today we present our interview with Principal Sherman. Towards the end readers will find a number of links to web pages being produced by teachers at South Park Elementary.

Can you give us a brief overview of your school, grade configuration, enrollment, staff size, etc? Can you also give us a sense of what technologies you have available in the school and in each classroom?

South Park Elementary School (no South Park jokes, please, we have heard them all!!!) is located in Deerfield, Illinois which is a northern suburb of Chicago. Deerfield District 109 consists of four elementary schools and two middle schools that feed into Deerfield High School. South Park is an elementary school with students in grade K – 5. We have an enrollment of 485 students with four sections in each grade level. Besides our classroom teachers, we also are fully staffed with an assistant principal, a technology coordinator, social worker, psychologist, resource teachers, and teaching assistants.

We have a computer lab equipped with 30 machines, LCD projector, digital cameras, and a digital video cameras. The lab is connected to the library which also has 12 computers and an LCD projector mounted to the ceiling. Each classroom is equipped with two computers, a document camera, and an LCD projector mounted to the ceiling. Our fourth and fifth grade classrooms also have mini-computer labs with four computers in each mini-lab.

We are very fortunate to work in a school district which places a high value on the use of educational technologies, so many valuable sites are not blocked including YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, del.icio.us, and other social networking sites. Of course, we have strong filters protecting students from inappropriate material, but generally speaking, we believe that our responsibility as educators in the 21st Century is to teach students how to use the Internet responsibility as opposed to automatically shutting them out of everything which is done in too many schools through the world and across our country.

One rather unusual sentence in your Mission Statement really caught our attention. It states, “That learning is important and that education should be fun, interesting and challenging.” Can you talk a little bit about how you as an administrator can foster a climate where “education is fun, interesting and challenging?”

Learning should be fun and engaging, but that does not mean school is all “fun and games.” School should be a place where children want to come every day because we, the educators, make learning interesting and engaging. “Fun” would be the by-product of that. At South Park, we are taking a long hard look at the concept of authentic learning where we teach the prescribed district curriculum and we embed authentic problems and activities that connect to real-world situations. We believe that our instruction should be rigorous, yet at the same time it needs to be relevant to our students’ lives, the community, and the world. Rigor and Relevance are two words I often use when I talk with teachers about teaching.

Additionally, I believe that the current Web 2.0 tools can be very engaging for students and teachers, and these tools can increase the level of authentic learning in the classrooms. I started this a few years ago when I shared the story of One Red Paper Clip (see attached PDF) and how Kyle MacDonald traded a red paper clip for a house via his blog. The power of the Internet! I also have used YouTube and TeacherTube videos in faculty meetings to introduce a topic or reinforce a point, and I try to incorporate an activity that engages teachers with technology such as a digital camera scavenger hunt in the building for our staff. The point of all of this is to model the power of technology for use with children and adults, with the goal of making learning fun, interesting and challenging.

Can you share with us how you got started with Web 2.0 tools and where your school is at in terms of implementing those tools?

We were fortunate to be able to bring in Alan November in 2005 – 2006 to work with our school district for the next year and a half. Alan was the person who turned me on to the Web 2.0 tools. He introduced all of us (teachers and administrators) to blogs, wikis, Wikipedia, podcasting, and the power of the Internet for instruction and learning. Alan taught us about the inherent dangers and risks of using the Internet for research including how to identify bogus sites, how to use secondary and tertiary sites, and how to use search engines like Google, Alta Vista, Ask.com, and others appropriately and effectively. Alan also taught us that the Read/Write Web is much more than “cool new tools,” and that ultimately it is about teaching and learning, not about technology. Through these workshops and meetings with Alan November, the focus in our district changed from technology to “21st Century Skills.” The guiding questions became: 1. “How can we incorporate more critical thinking and problem solving into our instruction?” 2. “How can we help our students become more self-directed in their learning?” and 3. “How can we prepare our students to compete in a global economy?”

For me, working with Alan November was a watershed moment. A spark was lit in me, and I realized how powerful the Read/Write Web could be in schools. However, I had no idea how to begin learning about these tools and how to use them as a principal and with students. I had started a blog, but I did not know what to do with it. Fortunately, I was able to attend Alan November’s Building Learning Communities conference in July, 2006. That is where I first met Will Richardson. Will taught a full-day workshop on Web 2.0 tools. He taught about RSS feeds, he got the participants started with Bloglines (an RSS aggregator), and he shared ways to use blogging, podcasting, and digital storytelling both professionally and with students. I left that four day conference totally energized, and my goal was to bring that energy to the South Park staff.

Currently, we have teachers in each of our grade levels using blogs and other tools to varying degrees. I will share some examples later. Basically, many teachers have started using blogs. Some use them as an interactive tool with students and parents, and others use blogs as a means of communicating with parents (homework, class news, etc.). Some teachers have begun to use wikis in their instruction, one teacher does a lot with podcasting, and another teacher has used Skype extensively with her students. One of the most popular tools is Photo Story (digital storytelling), and our technology coordinator uses this a lot with students in the computer lab.

I see where you have two blogs of your own, “The Principal’s Page” and “The Principal and Interest.” Can you give us a brief overview of each blog and why you have two different ones? Are maintaining these blogs part of your push towards the use of technology in the classroom?

This September, I realized that I wanted to reduce the amount of writing I did for the monthly school newsletter because the newsletter often consisted of old news, and it was not very timely. It occurred to me that a blog would be a much better vehicle for reporting to parents than a newsletter. The blog could be updated at any time, I could incorporate different media, and it can be interactive. That was when I launched a new blog called “The Principal’s Page.” I use this blog strictly for school news, pictures, videos, podcasts, upcoming events, and other school-specific items.

I am constantly looking for new ideas for my blogs, and I am modeling the use of blogging for teachers. I would like to see all of the teachers using blogs as a communication tool. It is a great way to share homework, ideas, dialogue, and student work, and it is a motivating tool for students. I have been saying for a couple of years that the way to get involved in the Web 2.0 is to start with a blog. Once a teacher, or anyone for that matter, gets hooked, she will naturally want to do more with technology, and that is where wikis, podcasting, etc. work their way in.

What steps are you taking to encourage teachers to use these tools? How do you/did you handle bringing everyone up to speed on the tools and how did you handle those who were reluctant to try these new tools? also, once underway, how do you help staff stay current on the latest developments?

I may become repetitive with this answer, but I believe that I must model the use of Web 2.0 tools for the staff and parents. I feel that it is my responsibility to keep learning about these tools, which I do mostly through RSS feeds. I am confident that the teachers now know enough about Web 2.0 tools to start using them, so I am starting to “push” a little harder at the individual teacher level whenever the time is right. I spend a lot of time talking with teachers about ways to incorporate these tools into their teaching. Often, these discussion come from my classroom visits and teacher observations.

Can you share with us a couple of exemplars that your teaching staff created with these new tools?

Here are some projects (blogs, Wikis, etc.) that you may be interested in:

Our technology coordinator was part of the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund’s trip to Japan. He used his blog and Skype to communicate with and teach our students from Japan. Blog link: Minorsensei.

He has another blog where he does a lot with digital storytelling and other cool stuff: The South Park Lab’s Blog.

Here is the work a fifth grade teacher is doing with blogs and other tools. She is a podcasting pro. Check out her South Park News Network podcasts: Blog link: Faust Facts 5.0.

Same teacher, but this is from her fourth grade class last year: Faust Facts.

This teacher is a wiki expert. Check out her blog and her archipelagos wiki (it’s student created): Barwick’s Travelers.

This teacher’s husband spent over a year in Afghanistan. She used Skype to communicate with him and her students participated! Snell-Anderson’s Third Grade Class blog.

Here is a kindergarten teacher’s blog: If You Take Some Kids to Kindergarten…

Here is another fifth grade teacher’s blog. He has been requiring his students to write blog comments for homework: Medow News Network Blog.

On my Principal’s Page blog, I have been experimenting with video. I have been posting short snippets of student performances so grandparents and others who are unable to attend can see the children perform. (See the Music Concerts category on this blog) My next goal is to broadcast entire performances from school live via Ustream. How cool is that?!! Imagine the looks on the out-of-town relatives faces as they watch their grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. performing on the Internet.

These are just some examples. For all of the South Park blog sites click here: South Park Blogs. This is where you will see the range of blogs and how they are being used. Some teachers are really getting into this, and others are still in the beginning stages of using these tools.

Today we hear more and more about creativity in the classroom, especially working to develop the creative process in children. Many experts feel that these new technologies render this aspect of education extremely critical? Do you agree with that viewpoint and if so, how are you working to ensure that creativity is a focus of teachers at South Park?

I completely agree. Once you get past the “Wow, this is really cool” phase, the technology use will slow down if the creativity is not there. As I stated before, this really is not about technology. It’s about creative thinking, problem solving, and handing over the responsibility for learning to the students. The teacher needs to relinquish the role of “Expert who imparts all of the knowledge to his students.” Instead, he needs to help the students become more self-directed in their learning. These Web 2.0 tools are a great way to do this. If the work is authentic, rigorous, and relevant, then the student and teacher focus will remain high.

Have you had any glaring missteps and/or are there any areas that you would provide cautions for? Or would you be one that insists that the journey is part of the entire process?

This has been a learning process for me. Through workshops I have attended and through my RSS feeds, I have created a personal learning network that I would never have created without tools like blogs, del.icio.us, Twitter, and Technorati. I have learned so much from others, most of whom I have never met, yet I communicate with frequently. The journey is definitely part of the process.

Glaring missteps? No. However, I wish I had more time to delve into the blogosphere and learn. Cautions? Teach students how to behave appropriately online. Teach them to respect the medium so you do not have to block them from too many sites. Involve parents as much as possible, so they can see the benefits of publishing on the web. Finally, do not use students’ full names or other identifying information. Pseudonyms are great for kids to use.

Our good friend Zaid Alsagoff has an excellent post based on the concept that “there is at least one excellent free learning tool (or site) for every learning problem (or issue)!” He offers the basics. If you want a free, easy-to-use and secure Internet browser, an e-mail system, or an online community to share and discuss instructional teacher videos, Zaid has the suggestions. If you want the not so basic platform to incorporate all my favorite tools within one environment, the tool to learn languages, the tool to explore the Universe, or the tool to answer all your questions, Zaid has a suggestion for you. Check out his post at ZaidLearn.

Our Finite Planet
For a little lesson on our finite planet, check out “What is the Story of Stuff?“ with Annie Leonard. It is a 20-minute look at both our production and consumption patterns. For those who want to fuel student discussions about the chances for a greener, more sustainable planet, “The Story of Stuff?” is an excellent video and could serve as a great jumping off place to create student dialogue regarding both environmental and social issues.

Education and Technology
A must read is over at I, Cringely, Survival of the Nerdiest. Indeed, Robert Cringley is dead on about schools becoming under siege, probably justifiably so

Here are a couple of nuggets:

“The key word here is ‘empowerment.’ Technologies allow us to overcome limitations of time, distance, and physical capability, but they only empower us when they can be gracefully used by large, productive segments of our society. The telephone was empowering when we all finally got it. Now it is the Internet and digital communications.”

And later, “We’ve reached the point in our (disparate) cultural adaptation to computing and communication technology that the younger technical generations are so empowered they are impatient and ready to jettison institutions most of the rest of us tend to think of as essential, central, even immortal. They are ready to dump our schools.”

If you are interested in technology or schools it is a great read. If you are interested in both, it is a must read.

Expelled
The Ben Stein movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, is receiving a lot of attention, most of it negative. The movie attempts to tackle the evolution/intelligent design debate.

There is a site “ExpelledExposed.com” that takes a detailed look at the movie. The web page contends, “We’ll show you why this movie is not a documentary at all, but anti-science propaganda aimed at creating the appearance of controversy where there is none.”

As a little teaser from the site, we offer this YouTube video on one of the players.

Adding a little fuel to the discussion is an interesting chart at the LiveScience site showing public acceptance of evolution in 34 countries. Check out the position held by the United States.

Children and the World of Make Believe
And further evidence that children need to be children and that means they must be allowed the time for imaginative play is available at NPR. An interesting tid bit involves a recent study of self-regulation, a replication of a study first done in the late 1940s. The experiment involved children ages 3, 5 and 7 and was focused on self-regulation. In 2001, researchers found that 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today’s 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago.

Yet another interesting discussion revolves around structure play. In an amazing development, the more structured the play, the more children’s private speech declines.

To learn more about a child’s need for imaginative type play, head to the NPR site – as with all NPR stories you may opt to listen to an audio version of the material.

Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed in the 1950′s, expresses thinking and learning through a set of concepts that begin with lower order thinking skills (LOTS) and build to higher order thinking skills (HOTS). The initial phraseology of Bloom’s Taxonomy had six levels, beginning with knowledge at the lowest, then progressing through comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

The basis for the theory is rather straightforward, a person cannot understand something that he does not remember (know) nor can he/she analyze or apply that knowledge if the person does not understand the material. Though an ability to analyze and apply certainly supersedes the basic knowledge category, to synthesize entails divergently applying knowledge and/or skills to produce something new. Lastly, evaluating or judging the value of material is necessary to produce a worthy final end product.

In education, quality teachers seek to bring their students to the HOTS level of the taxonomy whenever possible. Acquiring knowledge and even comprehending information pale in comparison to being able to apply that knowledge. In addition, as additional ideas come forward, the complexities that emerge demand further analysis of the information, etc.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, constructed over the last 15 years, turns these words into different phrases. In the revised taxonomy, verbs are used rather than nouns to express the concept. The revised taxonomy begins with the word remembering before moving to understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. Perhaps most importantly, there has been a general consensus of a change at level five and six, with evaluating being seen as a lower level to that of creating.

But today’s educational landscape is vastly different from that of yesterday rendering a lack of clarity as to where the levels of the taxonomy fit. As education heads into the digital world, many teachers struggle with where to place many of the new technology tasks within this long-standing hierarchal guide to teaching and learning.

Blooms in a Digital World
Thanks to some great work by Andrew Churches, educators have a basis by which to compare digital techniques to the more traditional standard that Bloom created. Mr. Churches is from New Zealand and is a Middle School teacher and Information Communication Technology enthusiast. On his website, Mr. Churches states, “I believe that to prepare our students for the future, we must prepare them for change, teach them to question and think, to adapt and modify, to sift and sort. I am fortunate to teach at a school with a mobile computing program, that sees students with personal mobile devices, laptops.”

Clearly there are fine lines of delineation in many aspects but his work provides a great framework from which educators can approach the topic. What follows is a summary of his Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (PDF).

Remembering
For the first area in the revised taxonomy, remembering, the focus is on retrieval of information. Under the traditional Bloom theory, we would use phrases like recognizing, listing, describing, naming and locating. Churches indicates that as we head towards the digital world we might more likely use phrases like bulleting to mark key words or phrases for recall. Likewise, students might bookmark or favorite a web page or site for future use. Yet another aspect for this fundamental step in the taxonomy would be the social networking arena where links between people are critical. Social bookmarking, the online version of local bookmarking or favorites, is apropos and likely a tad more advanced because users could draw on others’ bookmarks. Lastly, educators should take note that Churches sees the most popular task, that of searching or “Googling” as another remembering concept provided the search does not move beyond the fundamental key word or term.

Understanding
Here the traditional taxonomy phrases become interpreting, summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, comparing, and explaining. In the new digital world, Churches sees the step towards refining basic search techniques as a step along the path of understanding. Blog journaling would be another aspect as long as the focus was on simply “talking,” “writing,” or “typing” a task-specific entry. As but another example would be Twittering and answering the basic question, “what are you doing?” Churches notes that Twittering and journaling can easily move beyond the understanding level to higher levels of the taxonomy if these tools are used to develop greater understanding or if they are used to collaborate with peers. Churches notes two other digital areas fitting the understanding level, that of categorizing and of commenting/annotating files. The digital organizing and classifying of files clearly demonstrates a level of understanding while commenting and annotating web pages is likely analogous to taking notes.

Applying
Progressing up the Bloom’s ladder, the next level is referred to as applying. In the traditional Bloom format, we are talking about implementation, using information, and executing tasks. Here Churches offers several examples of students “doing.” For example, here we would find students initiating a program and/or operating and manipulating hardware and applications. Gaming technology would also fit as students would be demonstrating both understanding of the process and the skill set, then be applying them to the game task. Applying would also involve the uploading and appropriate sharing of materials on a site such as Flickr. It is at this point that Churches brings in editing skills and combines them with the understanding of tasks like Twittering and/or journaling. Lastly, the application level is where Churches places simple hacking, defining this term as “applying a simple set of rules to achieve a goal or objective.”

Analyzing
As we move ever further into the Higher Order Thinking Skills we move into analyzing what has been learned. Traditional Bloom’s taxonomy phrases are comparing, organizing, structuring, and integrating. Digital equivalents would involve mash ups where several data sources are melded into a single set of usable information. Churches also places the proper establishment of links within documents and web pages in the analyzing category. At this level, Churches indicates that though a wealth of data is available to students much of it may lack veracity. Therefore it is essential students be able to validate their information. Churches places this aspect in the analyzing category though this appears to involve both analysis and making judgments so we might be more inclined to slide this task to the next level in the taxonomy. Another aspect Churches lists here involves tagging, the “organizing, structuring and attributing online data, meta-tagging web pages, etc.” Certainly students must be able to understand the materials to be able to perform this step though there is some obvious overlap with the prior applying level. It is in this category that Churches places the reverse-engineering (possibly positive) and cracking (not likely positive) behaviors.

Evaluating
Under the traditional Bloom’s format, the fifth level of evaluating refers to hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging, testing and monitoring. As we noted above, this is where students begin to place informed judgments to start towards new ideas. Churches considers blog commenting and reflecting where students comment and reply to other postings as a simple example of this aspect. Essentially, students examining material in context and then replying must be doing some form of evaluation. For these comments, there is the posting of an appropriate, thoughtful, in depth response by one party and the potential evaluation or moderation of those posts by another party, so there are two very important distinct applications. Under the collaboration and networking aspect, Churches rightfully notes that “effective collaboration involves evaluating the strengths and abilities of the participants and evaluating the contribution they make.” Testing a product or application is also a key component at this level. For anyone to effectively test a process or tool the tester must have the ability to analyze the purpose of the tool or process. That demands both the knowledge of what the correct function should entail versus that which it currently does entail.

Creating
As we complete the Taxonomy, at the highest level we see students creating. Here the focus is on designing, inventing, constructing, planning and producing. Given this expectation, it is easy to see why more and more people are placing greater emphasis on creativity within the school setting. It is here we would find technology mixing heavily with the creative process. It could involve audio and video and come in the form of a film, an animation, a videocast, or a podcast. This arena features a heavy dose of mixing and remixing to ultimately produce unique products. Ultimately, there is publishing of some type here, so anything related to a written or video blog, even a Wiki would relate. Churches also offers additional digital equivalents at this level of the Taxonomy as the creation of a program application or the development of a game.

Conclusion
Churches work gives educators an excellent framework from which to begin to assess their digital practices. We recognize that many teachers tend to push the “search” concept, especially search refinements, further up the taxonomy levels. But at the same time Churches digital examples at the evaluation level provide strong reinforcement for the use of blogs and Wikis to greatly enhance learning. Teachers seeking a more in depth look at Churches’ thoughts should turn to “Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy.”

As we noted in our prior post, Dr. Tanya Byron, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, recently released an important set of E-safety recommendations, “Safer Children in a Digital World,” for children in the UK. Today we turn to her summary recommendations regarding video gaming.

Here again, the most compelling aspect of her research as well as her recommendations is the fact that she refrains from oversimplifying the matter. When it comes to the issue of video games, Byron calls upon the video game industry and parents to work collaboratively to ensure that children are provided access to games that are age-appropriate.

Risk-Reward Nature of Technology
As was her methodology with Internet safety, Byron seeks a collaborative approach to children and the video game industry. In addition, she seeks to have assistance from the gaming industry to help restrict the access of games that are inappropriate for children. At the same time, she also calls on parents to do their part in the process.

In speaking about empowering children and keeping them safe, Byron turns to the following analogy. Noting that “children will be children – pushing boundaries and taking risks,” Byron offers, “at a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.”

Byron notes that technology offers extraordinary opportunities for children and young people as well as adults. As for video games, the researcher indicates that such games offer “a range of exciting interactive experiences for children.” At the same time, Byron specifies that some video games are in fact designed for adults.

Byron recognizes that the debate on ‘media effects’ and violent content in video games is divided. She also confirms the obvious, that Internet and gaming technology is moving so rapidly that it is not possible for research to keep up with the developments.

What is noteworthy about Byron’s work is she does head directly to the gray areas, the risks of potentially harmful or inappropriate content, that could have negative impacts on children. As we noted in our post about Drs. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson and their research for Grand Theft Childhood, Byron is not ready to take a cause and effect position regarding video game play and antisocial behaviors in children. Byron states, “Overall, I have found that a search for direct cause and effect in this area is often too simplistic.”

At the same time the researcher does not give a free pass on the topic, stating that it does “not mean that the risks do not exist.” Byron then moves correctly to another key element, that we must use our understanding of child development to “inform an approach that is based on the ‘probability of risk’ in different circumstances.”

What is so remarkable about Byron’s review is that she recognizes the sheer complexity of this issue. “We need to take into account children’s individual strengths and vulnerabilities, because the factors that can discriminate a ‘beneficial’ from a ‘harmful’ experience online and in video games will often be individual factors in the child. The very same content can be useful to a child at a certain point in their life and development and may be equally damaging to another child.”

In addition, Byron notes, “Very few people are genuinely addicted to video games but lots of time spent playing can result in missed opportunities for other forms of development and socialization.” In other words, concerns must develop when these gaming technologies negatively impact children at the expense of other activities and family interaction.

Byron does list some of the prevailing concerns regarding video game play. She notes, “There is some evidence of short term aggression from playing violent video games but no studies of whether this leads to long term effects.” She also states, “There is a correlation between playing violent games and aggressive behavior, but this is not evidence that one causes the other.”

Her entire approach centers upon age appropriate gaming and reveals yet another critical element. “Games are more likely to affect perceptions and expectations of the real world amongst younger children because of their less developed ability to distinguish between fact and fiction (due to the immaturity of the frontal cortex).”

As for the interactive nature of games, Byron states the interactive nature may “also have a more profound effect than some other media, again especially amongst younger children (e.g. up to around 12 years old) who tend to use narratives to develop their values and ideas and who learn through ‘doing’.”

At the same time, Byron is not ready to castigate video games or refer to them as the source of all that is not well during adolescence. States Bryon, “These games offer new opportunities for social interaction between children and there are a number of potential benefits for children and young people from playing video games, including cognitive and educational gains and simply having fun. Interestingly the evidence to prove these benefits can be as contested as the evidence of negative effects.”

Ensuring Age Appropriate Gaming Opportunities
Byron calls for targeted efforts from the gaming industry to increase parental understanding of age-ratings and the available controls on gaming consoles. Byron recommends a new, hybrid classification system for games. She seeks to have the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Pan European Game Information, under the auspices of the UK Council for Child Internet safety, “work together to develop a joint approach to rating online games and driving up safety standards for children and young people.” She proposes that the new combined BBFC and PEGI logo be prominently placed on the front of all games (R18, 18,15,12,PG and U) with industry equivalent logos across all age ranges placed on the back of all boxes (ratings regarding violence, language, sexual activity, drugs activity, etc.).

Byron also seeks to have greater efforts to enforce age ratings at points of sale to ensure that children have access only to age appropriate materials. Byron suggests that games with ’12′ ratings and up carry legal requirements that such games cannot be sold to someone under the required age. At the same time, Byron calls on both the video game and advertising industries to comply with age-appropriate message targeting that matches the video game age classifications.

In addition, Byron wants to see “console manufacturers work together to raise standards in parental controls on consoles, delivering clear and easy to use prompts and better information for parents on where console controls meet agreed upon standards.”

Parents Must Also Parent
The researcher notes that even concerned parents sometimes still buy adult games for their children. The rationale? “Either for a ‘peaceful life’ or because it is ‘only a game’.”

Byron notes that parents must be aware of the fact that some games are suitable only for adults. She writes of how many children she came across that had been allowed to play age 18+ video games despite the fact that some children were forbidden from watching films with that rating.

She further notes that parents must be educated about the parental controls available on game consoles. If the gaming industry is expected to produce consoles that provide specific controls regarding time of play, game ratings, et al, then parents must learn to engage the technology and enforce the use of that technology.

Lastly, there is no substitute for parental responsibility especially with respect to decision-making. We noted earlier Byron’s prophetic words, the “need to take into account children’s individual strengths and vulnerabilities. The very same content can be useful to a child at a certain point in their life and development and may be equally damaging to another child.”

Recognizing the differences in children is difficult. But ultimately that recognition will have to be the responsibility of parents, not the gaming industry.

We have noted in several posts the role technology could have in enhancing education. Today we offer an interview with elementary teacher Tim Thompson, an educator who has indeed utilized technology to bring his second grade classroom to life.

Mr. Thompson recently received the Patience Norman Prize, an award presented annually to recognize an outstanding teacher within School Administrative District #52. Mr. Thompson’s principal, Thomas Martellone, notes in glowing terms this teacher’s innovative techniques. Notes Principal Martellone, “Tim has a thirst for using technology, both in and out of the classroom.”

A thirst indeed!!

In his classroom, Mr. Thompson has been using blogs to communicate class activities to parents and SMARTboard technology to have students create powerpoint presentations. In addition, Mr. Thompson utilizes movie technology for both classroom lessons and student products. This caring and dedicated teacher even provides “Podcasts” on his web page that give verbally recorded instructions for parents on how to help children with their math and reading instruction.

Below we present our interview Mr. Thompson in question and answer format. We have included numerous links to his classroom materials including “The Morning Work Show,” “The Literacy Fastbreak,” and his classroom web page.

We think teachers will find a wealth of classroom ideas as well as an inspirational dose of optimism.

Congratulations on winning the Patience Norman Prize for Teacher Excellence in your school district – my understanding is that you received a $5,000 cash prize in the process? That had to be pretty sweet?

Thanks. It’s certainly been a wild ride so far. When you’re a regular guy, who leaves a small island community to study elementary education, you’d never dream of winning an award for your everyday teaching efforts. I’m still awe struck, to tell the truth.

Can you give our readers a sense of what it felt like to be selected? Were you even aware that you had been nominated?

It has been an unparalleled honor and an extremely humbling experience to win an award like this. There are so many truly gifted educators, especially here in MSAD #52 and to be counted among some of them is unbelievable! When our Superintendent of schools announced my name as the winner, in front our entire student body it felt like I’d won an Oscar! I told my mother and father that this was the first standing ovation I had ever received. I honestly just stood and basked in the glow as long as I could. It took about a week to wipe the grin off my face. So many educators work so hard and to actually receive this kind affirmation for all the hours of preparation and planning is more than I could ever hope for.

What did your students have to say when they found out you had been selected? How about your colleagues?

My students were so proud! A young gentleman in classroom actually came up to me afterward and very formally offered me his hand and congratulated me. I also had one little girl who was so overwhelmed she burst out in tears saying, “I’m just so happy for you!” My favorite moment of celebration with my students came in the form of a phone message. After my wife and I arrived home, on the night of my award I had a message from a parent of one of my students. She related to me that her son had come home all excited telling her, “My teacher won five thousand dollars for being the best teacher in the world!” This parent, obviously very emotional, told me she was “So proud” to have me as her son’s teacher. Needless to say, that phone message has been saved!

According to Principal Martellone, you utilize a wealth of technology in your classroom – blogs, SMARTboards, and podcasts among other things. Could you give our readers some concrete examples of some of the technology you do use and how it relates to the second grade classroom curriculum? And are there some links our readers can check out to get some ideas of the products your students have produced?

It seems I’ve tried so many different possibilities in the realm of technology it’s so hard to know where to start. One of my most favorite is a new initiative into video production. I’ve found that my students respond so well to anything presented in a visual medium. Early on this year I created a daily show called “The Morning Work Show.” My students would come into the classroom first thing in the morning and gather at the white board with paper and pencil in hand. I would create a three to eight minute show that practiced skills previously taught in class. Students would watch the show and respond to written activities while it played.

The Morning Work Show has since evolved into “The Literacy Fast-Break.” Students work daily at our classroom computers with headphones to watch and practice literacy skills. These shows are also available for students to review online and often are sent home on video compilation discs I share with the parents.

My own passion for making movies has taken root in my students as well. The students love to create movies based on the content they are learning. We take small steps with these types of projects. But before long students are writing, creating slides, and voicing their own productions. Often these videos relate to a content area such as science or social studies. We began the year by studying the solar system in science. Students did basic research related to their space topic and made slides for a simple space movie. Students worked with me to create digital photo stories to exhibit their work. It is extremely gratifying to see enthusiasm spring up in students as they explore new frontiers and learn new skills.

Students are now working on cloud movies. We are using video clips from Discovery Education’s United Streaming web site. Many of these Discovery videos contain editable clips. Students are using these clips to write “voice-over” scripts that can be added to professionally produced videos. I have asked students to apply what they are learning in science class about weather and then produce a quality written script to show what they know. Their digital recordings will become mp3 files and we will work with the Windows Movie Maker program to produce student made movies. I’ve gone on and on about videos, but that’s my passion at this moment. I do still use blogs, wiki pages and other web 2.0 tools in the classroom. But the greatest spark lately has come in the form of multimedia education.

Engagement of students has been the driving force in this area for me. I desperately desire the percentages of actively engaged students to increase day-by-day… hour-by-hour… moment-by-moment… Once a former Superintendent of mine inspired us to reach not just student number one, two, and three on our class-lists… but all students… numbers seventeen… eighteen… right down to the bottom of the roster. This charge has stuck with me. Having all student’s senses fully engaged has begun to achieve this end.

When most people think of the second grade I am not sure they would immediately think of using technology to such an extent with students. Where did you come up with your ideas?

I’ve found that the most beneficial strategy in finding and choosing new classroom technological initiatives is to try them myself. Whenever the opportunity arises I sit in on our school district’s technology seminars and classes. Without fail I always hear of something new to try. After I first give it a try I am much more apt to give it a go with my own students. As educators, we ourselves never want to lose that sense of wonder. When we are open to new ideas and processes our students will be too. There’s nothing wrong with getting wrapped up in a new technique or web-tool and letting our imagination run with it.

When I start asking myself questions like, “How can I use this with my students?”… “What can my students do with this tool?”… “What are the possibilities?” Then and only then do we really get rolling.

I think a key issue at this age has to be how to assess the process of learning and manage to keep the final product from being the key focus of your assessment. How do you manage to do that?

These words constantly come to mind: explicitly model, guide, practice, support and modify. It is so true, the process is of vital importance with younger students. I have found that when students undertake a project like research and movie making. I save piles and piles on work from each student, this document, that document, all their work along the way. Students love to look back on notes, templates, organizers, and drafts they have done throughout the course of a project. These little pieces really exhibit to me just what students are able to do. The final product pales in comparison to the mountain of work the students did in preparation for that product. I do consider myself like an editor at a publishing house. And any polish or surface work students were not able to do on their own comes from work the student and I do together.

I remember some animal reports and movies my students made last year. At the end of the project I put together a manila envelope for each of my students. Their envelope contained every piece of work they completed as they made their final movie. My assessment of their work was a narrative letter with my observations of their strengths and needs. My hope is that students and parents will take the time to reflect on and celebrate all the effort their children put into their learning.

A topic that is being raised more and more in education is the teaching and fostering of creativity in the classroom. The idea is that there is no way for any of us to truly know what the world will be like for our children in the near future so creativity is now a critical component of the teaching process today. Do you agree with that notion and if so how do you go about fostering creativity in your students?

I agree whole-heartedly that creativity should be a major ingredient in any learning project we undertake. Creativity can take so many forms for so many different people. It can be flashy and glitzy. Or it can be quiet and consistent. As long as the product shows a little piece of who you are and what you care about I think creativity shines through. When students are invested in and excited about what they are learning they can’t help but be creative.

Two themes run constantly in my classroom: This activity matters and you can do anything you set your mind to. When we show students what we expect them to do, and then guide them in the steps of how to do it… They can do whatever we ask them to do. It doesn’t matter how young or disadvantaged they appear to be… all students can participate and achieve. I remember dreaming as kid of making a TV show or starring in a movie or a concert. My friends used to pretend to do this and have a great time doing it. The amazing thing is that today students have access to simple technology to actually put together a product on par with Hollywood. Instilling kids with a “Can-do” attitude goes a long way in today’s day and age. Because we all have access to the tools to help them do just that!

My sense is that your approach to teaching is enormously time consuming – how much time do you spend each week preparing instructional materials, teaching students, and assessing their progress?

Doing justice to the amount of time I put in is hard. The hours are many, let’s just say that. Teaching is not a nine to five job. Most of us know that. It is an all-consuming lifestyle. It’s all about commitment. How committed are you to providing your students with quality learning experiences? You can do that without technology, but using technology makes it a whole lot of fun. My wife is an educator as well, so we constantly talk-shop and bounce ideas off of one another. Our lives are wrapped up in our classrooms and for us that’s okay.

Being on the cutting edge obviously involves taking risks – was there ever a time when you tried to implement an idea that simply flopped? If so how did you handle that with the kids? From you experiences, is there some general advice you would give to other teachers about implementing technology in the classroom to protect them from possible failures?

Try to get over the fear of failing. I’ve learned that when you try something new in technology you more than likely will fail at one time or another. And that failing isn’t because of you necessarily, it is more than likely because of the quickly paced, very fluid, constantly evolving learning curve related to technology. I have a Garfield poster on the front of my desk at school. It says, “We must all learn to laugh at ourselves.” Letting students know that failure isn’t actually a bad thing but a great opportunity to learn is paramount. This is especially true when it comes to using technology. I’ve found that it’s great for myself and students to make a mistake, learn how to work our ways back from it and then discuss how it will help us in the future. My hope is that this approach and class attitude permeates all that we do as we set out to learn together.

For teachers interested in greater technology implementation in their classrooms yet not feeling fully confident of their own technology knowledge, what suggestions do you have for them?

Get out there and explore! Visit your building and school district technology leaders ask them what they are using. Find out what programs and web 2.0 tools your school is using. And give them all a try. I find that educational web sites like TeacherTube and EduHound are especially interesting. Seeing what others are doing can really peak your interest and inspire new ideas. I love the web 2.0 features that Google is implementing and have often used one of their tools to drive my own technology work. Google labs is a wonderful place to see what’s out on the cutting edge for web tools. Blogger has been another excellent tool for my classroom. The key is to stay aware of what’s going on online. If you hear a techie buzz word being used a lot or something new you’ve never heard of check it out. You never know exactly what might be of use to you down the road.

Grant Wiggins, author of Schooling by Design, has brought forth some very interesting points on a couple of topics in a recent post on his Authentic Education Big Ideas site.

First, Wiggins takes a look at the current “Just in Case” philosophy that dominates the American educational system then discusses the more appropriate notion of a “Just in Time” system. However, Wiggins notes that the “Just in Time” concept can only come about through a complete redefining of our current school curriculum. In regards to the “Just in Time” notion, he states, “You learn what you need in order to handle increasingly demanding performance requirements” then adds “we already do this in business, law, medicine, as well as sports and the arts.”

His point by omission: it just does not happen in education.

And as for the current educational system, Wiggins is unequivocating. He states, “Most people in schools do not believe the system is broken.”

He pulls no punches as to common items he hears from teachers, “Just listen to their excuses – they endlessly talk about what they cannot control instead of working passionately on what they can control.”

In conclusion, Wiggins states, “We still confuse teaching with learning, we still confuse short-term with long-term goals of learning, we still think that school need not have anything to do with preparing children for the future, and we still think that good intentions are the same as results.”

Not exactly easy on the ears, the eyes, or the public school psyche.

Outraged HomeSchoolers

The fallout from a February 28th ruling by Judge H. Walter Croskey of the Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles still has most of California buzzing. The Judge essentially cast a ruling that children ages six to 18 must be taught by credentialed teachers no matter the location. That means certified teachers in public schools, in private schools and even at home when the teaching is done by Mom and Dad.

In making the ruling, the Judge cited state law from the early 1950s. Apparently, in 1953 an appellate court had ruled against homeschooling parents who sought a way around California’s compulsory education laws. Adding major fuel to the fire is that the judge went on to stipulate that if instructors (home schooling parents) teach without credentials they will be subject to criminal action.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the homeschooling parents in the outrage of the ruling. Noted the Governor, “Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children’s education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don’t protect parents’ rights then, as elected officials, we will.”

The whole debate came as a result of a potential child abuse lawsuit. Ironically, that suit did not seek such a ruling regarding the home schooling issue.

Since there are an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 students homeschooled in California currently, there certainly is a significant number of angry citizens. According to most research, very few home schooling parents possess teaching credentials.

Yes, Boys and Girls Are Different

I must say I knew it all along.

Researchers have noted for quite some time that girls have superior language abilities than boys. But until the release of recent data, a biological basis for that difference has never been presented.

However, a recent study from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa, deemed to be unambiguous, reveals that the areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks. In addition, the findings of the researchers indicates that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks.

In the study, tasks were delivered in different formats, one a visual task, one an auditory task. The findings indicated that boys’ used a more sensory approach while girls used a more abstract approach.

One amazing suggestion is that this could all be a result of the fact that girls develop faster than boys. If such is the case, then would expect the differences between boys and girls would essentially disappear in adulthood.

And as for the longstanding question on the whole notion of giving directions, when we ask a woman how to get to a certain location, a man will perceive he is getting extraneous information yet for women all information is relevant due to the abstract nature of the thinking process in females. However, according to the study, men require only one cue, and in turn, may be distracted when provided additional information.

The study could have incredible ramifications for the classroom, particularly the idea of a return to male and female segregated classrooms. Science Daily has a synopsis of the findings while the entire study was published in the March issue of the journal Neuropsychologia.

Arnold Schwarzenegger photo by
Schumachergirl1956.