Weekly Tech Tips: Equity Issues in Technology & Education Panel Discussion

It has been nearly a month since my last Weekly Tech Tip post. For the majority of that time our school was on break but in that time there has been a flood of valuable resources to share. Between what is going on in the Middle East, what is going on in Wisconsin, and the Symposium I hosted at Hamline last week I have a lot of resources to pass along this week, far more than usual.

Also, instead of my typical Weekly Tech Tip format, and since processing this video has eaten up my computer resources all week, I am sharing the video of our panel discussion at Hamline University from last week on Equity Issues in Technology & Education. Enjoy.

Weekly Tech Tip:

Panel Discussion on Equity Issues in Technology and Education from Carl Anderson on Vimeo.

related links:

• Equity Issues: Technology & Education Symposium Website
  
• Choosing Not to Create Change by Ira Socol on SpeEdChange (post in response to his experience on our panel)
  

RT @anderscj: @sabier @irasocol @ELLBillofRights @scraigwatkins http://tinyurl.com/69cr338 Equity poem I wrot… (cont) http://deck.ly/~CgkPBless than a minute ago via TweetDeckRuslana Westerlund
EllBillofRights

Video Festival:

• The Daily Show - The Biggest Newser
  Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

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Link Stew:

• The Legislature is poised to pass alternative licensing plan. (StarTribune)
• What the Luddites Really Fought Against (Smithsonian.com)
• Alan November's Education-Related Twitter #Hashtag List
• Teaching and Assessing Philosophical Issues of Technology in an 8th Grade Science Classroom (by @JerridKruse)
• A Conversation with John Holt (1980)
• Michigan orders DPS to make huge cuts (The Detroit News)
• 2011 Horizon Report
• Ruling: Fired D.C. teachers must be offered jobs, back wages (Washington Examiner)
• Finding Nemo and spelling ‘humongous’: A look at Somerville school ‘data walls’ (Somerville Voices)
  
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Blog Carnival:

• Who Elected Bill Gates? by Gary Stager on Huffington Post
• Whiteboards—A Modest Proposal by Gary Stager on Tech&Learning
• The imagination tech purchasing plan by Ira Socol on SpeEdChange
  
• A List Of Education And Related Data Resources by Matthew Di Carlo on Shanker Blog
• Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites: Augmented Reality
• Teacher (educational) Development – An Invitation by Willy C. Cardoso on Authentic Teaching
• Why America's teachers are enraged By Diane Ravitch on CNN
  
• How Bill Gates' Favorite Teacher Wants to Disrupt Education BY Gregory Ferenstein on FastCompany
• What’s Love Got to Do With It? Is Test Driven Educational Reform Driving the Joy in Learning from the Nation’s Classrooms. Dr Mark Naison With A Brooklyn Accent
• Passion-Based Learning by Ira Socol on SpeEdChange
• “Online Learning” Isn’t “Learning Online” by Will Richardson on Weblogg-Ed
• Crazy Days by Will Richardson on Weblogg-Ed
• Making the case for Facebook in Education by Jen Hegna on Grin and BEAR "I.T."
  

Retweetable Tweets:

Every time I hear the word Rebel I think of Admiral Akbar. Somewhat ironic name. #libya #iran #egypt #yemen #bahrain #starwars #itsatrapless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneAndy Carvin
acarvin

#Edchat if schools r preparing learners 4 future society what's the purpose of testing & memorisation?less than a minute ago via EchofonMichael Shepherd
Smichael920

Do we teachers emphasize traditional colleges/universities too much to the deficit of trade schools? Are we creating social classes? #edchatless than a minute ago via TweetDeckWilliam Chamberlain
wmchamberlain

I have yet to see any real agreement as to what the goal of education should be. #Edchatless than a minute ago via TweetDeckTom Whitby
tomwhitby

Proctoring standardized tests can't be much different from working airport securityless than a minute ago via ÜberSocialJason Christiansen
jasonchri

Beware of @m_rhee, who attributes way too much in education to test scores. Not a real reformer.less than a minute ago via webMKW
rugcernie

We are happy with the international community response so far, but he answer is no, the #Libyans don't want any military intervention.less than a minute ago via webLibyan
Tripolitanian

#flatclass2011 Take-aways from yesterday 4. Conferences should be about taking action, not taking notes.less than a minute ago via TweetDeckDavid Truss
datruss

Just told our testing coordinator that I wish all of it were trashed and we could get her a much more rewarding job. :)less than a minute ago via TweetDeckedtechsteve
edtechsteve

Me too! Fired up! RT @e_austin: Thank You, Governor Walker, for helping me get my teachers fired up to fight for our rights.less than a minute ago via TweetDeckTyler LIvingston
livingteacher

"Micro-computers have been in classrooms for 30 years. We have made little progress with their use in school." -@garystager #fbless than a minute ago via NambuTim Gwynn
tgwynn

for @acarvin, a RT is a source, an interview, a quote. For us, it is insight, first-person accounts previously unimaginable, unavailable.less than a minute ago via webAnneRaquelTrubek
araqueltrubek

RT @warrenellis: Gadaffi's speech seems to boil down to "Everyone is on drugs except me. Also I am Batman."less than a minute ago via TweetDecksava
savasavasava

Twitter told me there was an earthquake in NZ. Facebook told me all my sister-in-laws family were OK. Different networks both valuable.less than a minute ago via TweetDeckDermot Casey
dermotcasey

So facebook is a critical component in fueling a revolution but schools don't think it's appropriate to be used or taught in schools. Huh?less than a minute ago via TweetDeckDean Shareski
shareski

@pammoran @aleaness real research begins -as Postman knew- when teachers stop asking questions they know the answers toless than a minute ago via ÜberTwitterIra Socol
irasocol

Beiser: Schools were told they could buy art and music teachers. No one did at elementary schools. That means the end of music education.less than a minute ago via TweetDeckEmily Alpert
emilyschoolsyou

@garystager courts have basically told school administrators, "do what you think is best..." & increasingly, that's not what's best for kidsless than a minute ago via TweetDeckJonathan Becker
jonbecker

Equity Issues in Technology and Education - February 24th Event Announcement

I am real excited about an event I have been coordinating on February 24th at Hamline University. As part of both my role at EMID 6067 and my role at Hamline University and through the grant funding that brought me to EMID this year we are hosting a day-long symposium on equity issues in technology and education. We are also partnering with the Office of Equity and Integration to provide free admission and pay for a sub for teachers in our 10 member districts:

• Forest Lake Area Schools (ISD #831)
• Inver Grove Heights Community Schools (ISD #199)
• Roseville Area Schools (ISD #623)
• St. Paul Public Schools (ISD #625)
• South St. Paul Public Schools (SSD #006)
• South Washington County Schools (ISD #833)
• Spring Lake Park (ISD #16)
• Stillwater Area Schools (ISD #834)
• West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School District (ISD #197)
• White Bear Lake Area Schools (ISD #624)

The event is also open to anyone else who would like to attend for a fee of $75. (Click here to register.) Space is limited to 150 people.

We will also be streaming our morning sessions and at least one of our afternoon sessions online using Elluminate. Anyone can attend for free online and we will do our best to make sure any questions for our panelists posted online are addressed at the event. (Click here to attend online).

S. Craig Watkins will be keynoting the event in the morning followed by a panel discussion featuring Ira Socol, Cassie Scharber, and Daniel Sellers. The afternoon will be filled with two sections of break-out sessions, one preset and the other attendee driven. For one of these sessions we will even have a third grade class come and hold class at our event. We often hear that students should be involved with teacher professional development but it rarely gets done. We are going to give it a try.

For more information about the event visit our official event website:


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Belief to Behavior and the clash of Social Media

I have been giving myself migraines lately trying to figure out how traditional institutions of learning can be married with new emerging networked forms of learning such as those apparent in Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). On the surface this seems like it should not be an issue. Both largely serve the same objective. Both exist with the intent of trying to promote learning and improve the lives of their patrons. However, on closer inspection, a fundamental quality of these learning environemnts places them at odds with one another in a rather disruptive way.

The clash that exists at the core of both educational approaches, I believe, runs deeper than just the education world and embodies and infects all aspects of our world effected by a new world paradigm. This new world paradigm encapsulates what lies at the heart of what we have all come to identify as social media, web 2.0, wisdom of crowds, grass-roots endeavors, the "cult of the amateur," participatory politics, user-created content, etc. We are seeing the effects of this clash today most noticeably in two realms: media and religion. Church attendance and membership is at an all-time low and traditional media outlets are quickly going under. The pinch these groups feel is evident in how much they are lobbying congress to pass anti-net neutrality legislation and how in recent years right wing evangelical agenda has been on the front lines of politics. These are hot button issues because the status quo in both these fields has been upset. The same is true in education. For the past few years we have been fed a line about social media tools in school as being dangerous for kids. Schools were quick to ban or limit the use of these tools by students. Teachers have felt the pinch too. Louisiana recently enacted a new state law that moves teacher use of the social web within the jurisdiction of their k-12 employers.

What is the common denominator for these three great institutions (the church, traditional media, and schools)? What is the common denominator of endeavors that fall within this new world paradigm? Last week I saw a TED Talk by Devdutt Pattanaik called, East vs west -- the myths that mystify that I feel answers this question. In this talk Dr. Pattanaik discusses how the fundamental belief structures between east and west cultures clash. He illustrates this with a simple story about Alexander the Great meeting a gymnosophist, "When they met, the gymnosophist asked what Alexander the Great was doing. To which he replied, 'I am conquering the world. What are you doing?' 'I am experiencing nothingness,' replied the gymnosophist." Neither could see the point in the others endeavor because the denominator for Alexander's life was One and the denominator for the gymnosophist's life was Many. This fundamental element of belief informed everything about how both individuals interpreted these actions.




In this talk Dr. Pattanaik shows this slide that I think explains it all. It explains the clash between the world views of the gymnosophist and Alexander the Great, and it explains the clash between new and old world paradigms we are seeing played out right now.


Today, I read two posts by Ira Socol, Crossing America: An Education, and The Colonialism of Michelle Rhee or TFA v BoA that bring to our attention that this sort of clash is nothing new. Ira serves up some examples of how we have disastrously addressed this conflict in the past which should serve as a warning to reactionaries and policy makers to be careful how they deal with this new conflict. In these posts two distinct conflicts similar in their relationship to the "belief to behavior" equation are discussed: racial integration and the effect of environment on learner background. Here are some excerpts:

"When you leave Michigan and head west, first entering "The Prairie" in Illinois, the world begins to change, and thus, so do the ways in which people see, hear, think, and learn."

"And the inherent "truth" of that creates one of the great fallacies of our current educational debate. Yes, there is only one right way to add 2+2 or spell "tomorrow," but there are hundreds or thousands of ways to perceive both "2+2" and "tomorrow," and as many different ways to learn about both."

"This lack of appreciation of cultural and physical environment on the process of education makes our teachers and our political leaders look like fools. And it results in diplomatic and schoolroom disaster."

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"Impoverished minority kids need to learn "to be white" as Rhee insists. They must learn how to speak the English, and behave in the way, that will get them hired...'Wait,' I said, 'still colonialism, still the powdered wigs for Nigerians and Indians so they could become Brits.' And, I added, there's a counter-narrative, an anti-colonial narrative.'"

"This counter-narrative suggests that we need not force minority students to learn to march and chant (KIPP), we need not "just" give them white role models to copy (Teach for America), we need not deny them the creative education all children deserve (Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Paul Vallas, Arne Duncan). Rather, we can help them take control of their communities and their lives within the context of their own culture."

The belief system that governs the institutions effected by current change and the systems of the west Ira describes all have one thing in common. They all are built upon a belief system that requires a top-down hierarchy, a denominator of One. When that system clashed with antithetical structures in the past it was usually disastrous. Can we find a way to marry the new world paradigm with the old or are we doomed to repeat this kind of battle? Can systems rooted in bottom-up hierarchies meet those with top-down hierarchies half way? Can they coexist? Is there a way to lend credit to networked learning learning experiences without causing the demise of traditional institutions of learning? Is school doomed to suffer the same fate as the newspaper or will PLN's always aspire to be "school-like" only to fall short of ever being able to reach that goal? I still have no answers, just more informed questions.