Lightspeed Systems

Seat Time Makes No Sense

I had not realized how much progress was being made in eliminating seat time requirements until I read this article in Education Week: States Loosening ‘Seat Time’ Requirements.

It is about time!

I do not need to re-state all the reasons for a focus on mastery, self-paced learning, differentiation. Clearly, teaching all 9 year olds alike because they share a single trait (age) is indefensible.

Of course, we have routines, rules, practices all built around this model. So – going to a better system will be messy and imperfect.

But really, who are these “others” the author refers to?

Others, however, wonder whether advocates of moving away from seat time are more interested in trying to boost graduation rates through online and other means than in keeping an eye on the instructional quality of those courses.

It is either we have silly, antiquated models with quality content or new, adaptive, models with poor quality content. High and low quality is possible with in any methodology – but the risk of some poor quality should not bar us from using the power of new ideas, technology, etc.

Truly differentiated instruction may be within our grasp. And the “others” resist?

What am I missing here? Please feel free to comment. I’d love to hear a range of perspectives.

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Trick Question: Do Teachers Have To Learn Technology?

Jonah Salich put it great when he said, “Actually, teachers DON’T have to learn technology.”

Salich provides a thoughtful discussion of the role of technology in teaching and learning in this post, “Actually, teachers DON’T have to learn technology.”

At the heart of the discussion is a particular good exploration of the “why.”

As in, if technology is so great, so inspiring, so engaging, so powerful, so…”why” do many teachers choose not to incorporate it in their teaching?

Here is his key point:

Teachers are learners and just like our students we all have certain learning strengths and different personal interests. I don’t think most teachers choose not to adopt technology because they are indifferent or unwilling to learn, but maybe it simply isn’t intrinsically interesting to them (or they aren’t familiar with the new mode of self-directed learning that technology involves.)

However, just as the student who is bored by math (or literacy, science, etc.) or struggles with its concepts still needs to learn those skills, teachers need to learn the new skills inherent in technology integration.

Or do they?…Are their colleagues telling them they have to? Are their administrators telling them they have to? Are the parents telling them they have to? If not, then they don’t have to learn it. We would like them to because we see the benefits and we enjoy it, but until they have to learn it many of them won’t. If I didn’t demand that my students who struggle with math learn it, they certainly wouldn’t do it on their own. How many of us would carve out time to learn something that isn’t intrinsically interesting to us and isn’t required?

As a relatively old, non-technical digital immigrant – I never voluntarily learn any new technology (for the “fun” of playing with technology). Technology is not fun–for me.

But, when some sort of technology helps me fulfill my passion for information about educational innovation, helps me connect with my college attending daughter, or meets some other intrinsic need – I learn. Hands on, that is.

My take away: We need to make our Lightspeed software easy to use. And useful. And fun, if possible. So, we do not have to require teachers to use it, to take a class on it, or do anything – but learn, enjoy, and perform more effectively.

What is your takeaway?

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Forget “Training” – Let’s Try “Learning”

Dean Shareski asks an interesting set of questions in his post, Should teachers own their learning?

What if school districts and school administrators trusted teachers to let them direct their own PD?

What if the ideas of personalized learning and students owning their learning was applied to teachers?

In other words, what if we forgot “training” and just insisted on “learning?” Would tech be used more effectively? Would blended learning opportunities blossom?

I asked a similar question in a recent post, Blended Learning Training: Start With a Community of Practitioners? Check out the comment responses and how Scott County School District #2 is training their teachers on tech integration!

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To the Cloud for Curriculum!

As Wesley Fryer explains, “The future of digital curriculum is in the cloud, on mobile devices, and in remixable forms.”

Which is why we think platforms like My Big Campus are vital. Content can be mixed and matched, shared, changed, and discussed—anywhere, anytime—as long as students, teachers and parents have an internet connection.

Effective use of this content is yet another discussion. But foundational is access to content in this form—the cloud.

Katie Ash shares a variety of examples in this piece in Education Week: Picking and Choosing Digital Content

If you are not already on My Big Campus, we invite you to join and explore the Education Resource Library where there are hundreds of thousands of resources for you to pick and choose, and mix and match your content. Take a look here: www.mybigcampus.com.

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Blended Learning Training: Start With a Community of Practitioners?

Teacher Melissa Meyers makes a powerful argument for blended learning in Bob Lenz’s blog post, From the Classroom: What Does Blending Learning Look Like?

Yet, her conclusion does not quite work for me. She sums up her argument with this:

Technology is certainly worth the hype, but it will remain only empty, extravagant claims if teachers aren’t trained to use it effectively and aren’t as enthusiastic — and evolved — as their students already are. It’s time to play catch-up.

I don’t think we can simply “train” our way to greatness.

Yes, teachers need help understanding how to effectively teach in a blended learning model. But I have very low expectations for any kind of formal “training” effort. It seems to me early adopters just need to model the behaviors, share the tools and techniques, and if/when teachers are ready to teach in a new way then the “training program” is an authentic, experimental interaction with the community of practitioners. Most of us learn new things as needed—because they are needed—not by going back to a training class.

Thus, I am with Melissa that success will come with enthusiastic evolution of our practices—but I think that happens in a very different way than a traditional “training” model.

What do you think? Does your school or district offer a formal training program for blending learning or is it more organic? What do you think is most effective? If you incorporate blending learning in your classroom where have you received your “training?”

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The Technology Tools Are Not the Point

Educational technology is making possible powerful new ways to learn. But the foundational concept is not “technology in the classroom.” After reading this post, Five Ways to Empower Students, I wonder: Is the concept the “power of us?”

Adora Svitak certainly makes that argument here:

What’s the most powerful resource in your classroom? Is it the formidable stack of textbooks, the encyclopedia, the computer? As much of a reader and education technology enthusiast as I am, I believe this most powerful resource is something else entirely. It’s something collective — the diverse imaginations, observations, opinions, hopes and dreams of students. By empowering students, you can engage them further in learning, provide a more democratic learning experience and, of course, find the most powerful resource in your classroom: us.

Read the post and let me know your thoughts.

Do you think that technology tools are the most powerful resource in your classroom? Or do you see yourself as empowering to your students?

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Apple – Less Like a Villain, More Like a Gateway Drug?

The Economist’s take on iBooks is ultimately summed up as follows:

Vinod Khosla, a legendary Silicon Valley investor, says he is personally excited by the prospect of high-school education “moving from teachers talking uniformly to bored A students and clueless D students, 50 in a class, to individual ‘gamified’ and adaptively difficult systems that leverage our social inclinations.” In other words, when a student can win points, stars or badges by helping friends understand difficult concepts—and his or her own reputation gets an immediate boost on Facebook as a result—then high-school education will finally have entered the 21st century. Pray for the day.

Take a moment when you can and read the full article here: Difference engine: Let the games begin

We have a long, long way to go. Especially since our primary learning delivery model seems to still be a lecture followed by a fact-based test to measure student achievement at the end.

But interesting experiments abound—and the tools for individualized, social learning are evolving rapidly.

How are these trends reflected in your classroom? School? Learning community? Please share with us here.

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Apple as the Villain

Lightspeed Systems employees love Apple products. So much so that it’s getting harder to even find PCs in the building—much less in an employee’s hand. And this in spite of the fact that Lightspeed Systems was a 100% Windows shop only a mere five or six years ago.

We are an informal product partner who is working hard with our customers to develop the best iOS mobile filter available, apps for My Big Campus, and now a unique, education-centric mobile device management (MDM) solution. All of this work is specifically geared to better support the rapidly expanding number of iPad 1:1 initiatives.

So we (like many of you) followed Apple’s recent etextbook announcement closely.

Clearly, some good work has been done to facilitate the elimination of multiple heavy, static books and replace them with a digital “textbook”—which can also be so much more. But (this is a big one) many educators immediately declared this move as a step backward—or at least sideways—as just a fancy textbook tool. It may be a good way for Apple to sell iPads, but it’s not moving us forward to truly authentic, engaging, interactive, inquiry-based learning. (I threw as many of those adjectives in as I could.  There are many more, but in some form or another this promise of improving learning by moving away from lecture, rote, fact-based regurgitation, etc. is at the heart of the “blended learning movement.”)

Perhaps David Thornburg’s recent blog post provocatively titled, “Why Does Apple Want To Kill Education” makes the argument most powerfully.

Is Mr. Thornburg right? Is the end nigh?

I do not think so.

But I do think that the concept of etextbooks is simply a form of bridge technology. Digital textbooks—all accessible on one device and with the ability to include links to other resources, etc.—ARE an improvement over big, heavy, “dumb” textbooks. It is a necessary step to develop these tools, both from a technological perspective and from a political one. As Will Richardson points out, today we have a whole regulatory scheme built around standardized test scores, college admission practices, etc. And while many of us believe this is a poor measure of school success, it is currently the official measure. Thus, Will’s quest is to find “bold schools” that are effective by today’s regulatory measures and also are innovating in powerful, and potentially more effective ways for the long term. You can read Will’s most recent post on his quest here: What Qualities Do Bold Schools Share?  

In sum, effective blended learning has to be about more than just digital textbooks. We need to develop methodologies and tools to break that content down into small bites. This can make it much easier for students to manipulate, share, discuss, and digest information to develop the critical thinking, learning, content creating skills they need for the modern world. Many, many companies—and educational institutions—are experimenting with these ideas.

The “pocket of innovation” has always existed and does exist today. But moving public institutions forward, within the seemingly constant clash of cultures and ideas that reflect our current political climate will be a challenge. As Mr. Thornburg says about his blog and his work:

“I never cease to be amazed by two things: the rapid advancement of technology, and the lethargic movement of systemic change. We live in a world where the disconnect between the two is growing.”

Please join the conversation. We can certainly learn a lot from one another, so if you have effective models to share—please do. We both want to learn from other’s success—but also creat exemplars to help move our institutions forward.

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My 2012 Predictions

I have struggled a bit this year with the blog – as just flipping you all interesting tech tidbits is nice, and easy, and fun – but I am not sure it really moves us forward very much.

So I am going to narrow my subject matter a bit – and really try to dive deeper into the blended learning swamp (kinda like the “Turtle Man,” but with a more intellectual twist).

This is still a Lightspeed Systems official blog – so I reserve the right to step off the path occasionally as warranted – but my one true quest, at least for now, will be to try to expand our understanding of blended learning in general, and best practices for effective learning in particular.

Audrey Watters started me down this path with this post: (I Hope This Isn’t a) 2012 Predictions Post.  She wonders about the future of LMSs, itextbooks, and digital content in the era of the Khan Academy. She lightly touches on much bigger themes – summed up by a comment from Vincent:

“I think all education leaders need to do more reflection and re-examine the sudden surge of education startups in this vertical. I have followed the education space for three decades and certainly laud new entrepreneurship, innovations and ideas that may ‘disrupt’ teaching and learning, since we sure need it. There are many new ventures that have a very positive impact, however the majority have been “more of the same”.

In other words: What really matters? What works? How can blended learning models (and associated digital content/delivery platforms) be used for good?

As many very astute folks pointed out in 2011, tech matters. It has tremendous potential to improve education in numerous, fundamental ways. But it is not magic fairy dust. A video lecture – in and of itself – is still a lecture. But video (and other digital content) used in creative, collaborative, authentic, 24 x 7 learning ways – CAN be transformative. A tablet is just another technology device. But combined with the right content and collaborative instruction, it puts the world of learning in the hands of the student – and in a form that adds the incentives of cool and fun that can be just the thing to get a student started.

So, my 2012 predictions? I predict that I will try to make my blog more useful. (That may be more of a resolution.) And I predict we’ll all work together to understand the potential and impact of blended learning and share ways to make it work. (That may be more of a hope.) And I predict that 2012 will see a lot of you doing awesome things with mobile and online learning. (That is a true prediction, and one I posit without hesitation.)

We hope you will join the conversation this year – as we are all in this together and can get farther, faster, by collaborating and sharing.

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A Message from Bob Campus

We are finishing up another great year at Lightspeed Systems! After some great accomplishments with My Big Campus, Bob Campus has an end of the year message for everyone in this new video.

Watch it here or jump down below to watch it from YouTube.

Happy Holidays!

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