Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Privacy in the Digital Age

I don't consider myself paranoid in fact, I am probably more trusting than the average person. But I have begun to wonder how much of my personal life is stored on computers around the world. Who might be looking at it and why?

Durff got me thinking about it again this week after reading his post, Privacy - Right or Privilege. I think privacy should be a right, but is it one that we are giving away bit by bit in our online practice?

How many times have you clicked that little "I agree to privacy policy" button without understanding all the legalese that scrolled by on my screen. I have lost count.

I keep my calendar online on AirSet. I compose documents on GoogleDocs. I store pictures on any number of photo sites. There are little bits of me spread all over cyberspace. And I used to think that was no big deal, because no one would go to the trouble to gather it all up and use it? Maybe I was wrong about that.

Watch parts four and five of Frontline's "Spying on the Home Front." Every time you use your credit card, you leave a digital footprint on a database.

And what about the information that you post to a digital networking site? Watch this video about the rights that FaceBook retains for tracking information about its users.

I think management of privacy will be a pivotal issue for the continued growth of Web 2.0 and automation.

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Share Tech Tips with Educators Online

The second annual K12 online conference is gearing up. Submit your proposal to share learning with other teachers by June 18th.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first annual K12 online conference and learned a lot. If you didn't participate, you still can. There are sessions on blogs, wikis, Flickr, RSS, podcasting . . .

And the presenters are a who's who of tech educators - David Warlick, Jeff Utecht, Bud Hunt, Vicki Davis, Mark Wagner, Wil Richardson, Wes Fryer, Terry Freedman . . .

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Students Envisioning the Future

Vicki Davis, one of my favorite bloggers, is working on the Horizon project. Students are envisioning the future. Watch this video about the future of cellular phones.



Can you imagine all the things that Atif, the creator of this video, learned in creating this video? Now that is authentic learning and awsome use of YouTube! It makes the world seem a lot smaller when I am inspired by a student in Bangladesh.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Dear Secretary Spellings

The US Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, is asking for your input on the role of technology in education. I have chosen to focus my comments (at least my first contribution) on the area of Web 2.0 and global competition. Let the Secretary hear from you too, by clicking here.

In what ways can technology help us prepare our children for global competition and reach our goals of eliminating achievement gaps and having all students read and do math on grade level by 2014?

Dear Secretary Spellings,

I believe that technology in the hands of innovative teachers uniquely addresses global competition in education. Web 2.0 technology such as blogs, wikis, and moderated social networks can expose students to global content in an authentic way. Here is one example, The Flat Classroom Project.

In international online projects, American students interact with students and teachers from other parts of the world. They learn about cultural differences and similarities. They share content learning between the two groups and make it relevant to their personal experience. Teachers see first hand the differences in education between the United States and other nations, giving them the opportunity to adapt their own practice. Educational leaders at the local, state, and national level must highlight best practices in the area of global connectedness to encourage innovation.

Sincerely,

Laura B. Fogle

Friday, May 11, 2007

Harry Potter Magic

According to The Kids and Family Research Report released jointly by Scholastic and Yankelovich, students who read Harry Potter books report improved attitudes about reading.
  • 51% did not read books for fun before they started reading Harry Potter, but now they do
  • kids who read Harry Potter were more likely to consider reading important than those who haven't

Now a report like this is encouraging, but honestly it came from the publisher of the Harry Potter books and a marketing research company. So I did my own research.

My eight year old is a Harry Potter devotee'. She read her first Harry Potter book in August of this year, at the encouragement of her best friend. I had been bribing her to read chapter books during second grades so I was amazed when she willing picked up a book well over 100 pages. She absolutely devoured all six books! You had to pry her away from them to get her to do anything else. She was reading 60 to 100 pages in one day, while still going to school and doing her required work. She is know breathlessly waiting for the 7th book and rereading books one through six. So as a parent, watching her read the books transformed my view of her from a reluctant reader to a voracious reader, but I wasn't sure what she thought about it.

I asked her to comment on how the books have changed her thoughts about reading. I was amazed by her response.
I like fiction now more than non-fiction. I especially like fantasy. I like trying to figure out the clues to the mysteries. I learned how to figure out words that I don't know from hints. J.K. Rowling is a good author. So I have learned a lot about writing from her. It inspired me to start writing my own Vanessa and Selena stories with my friend.

Not only did Harry Potter solidify her thoughts about herself as a reader and what she likes, but it developed her vocabulary deciphering skills and her inference skills. She now not only thinks of herself as a reader, but a writer too!

This is the kind of enthusiasm that we need to harness to help kids be successful in school. We must find what children are passionate about and use that energy to help them become 21st century learners.

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

MEGA Showcase

The MEGA showcase happens every spring. It features innovative technology project from schools across the piedmont of North Carolina. It is like a free mini conference and also features an impressive keynote speaker (more on the speaker in another post).

The highlights of what I saw at yesterday's showcase:

Wikis
  • Middle school students are collecting data about blue birds using boxes on the school property and posting them to a wiki. West Lee Middle School, Lee County Schools
  • Fourth grade students using wikis to write for a large audience in language arts from W G Pearson, Durham Public Schools
Podcasting/Vodcasting
  • Middle school students podcast interviews with family members about their experience with heart disease and/or high blood pressure. The teacher, Joselyn Todd, also creates vodcasts with the students describing why they chose that particular family member. Cary Academy
Multimedia
  • 1st through fifth graders writing their own books based on a particular author's style. Then creating illustrations for their books using Scholastic Keys. Finally the illusltration s are put together using MovieMaker and the student records a narration. This is awesome and could be done easily in almost any classroom! Olive Chapel Elementary School Wake County Schools
  • EC middle school teacher video conferencing with pre-service teachers at NC State West Lee Middle School, Lee County Schools
  • Elementary math teacher and her student creating math raps. They got a grant to buy a special software to make their videos very professional with animated backgrouds, etc. Some of them are posted on TeacherTube. Deep River Elementary School, Lee County schools
  • Elementary students using a virtual environment where they create their own avatar. Quest Atlantis is the program and is tied to the Standard Course of Study. Williford Elementary School, Nash-Rocky Mount Schools
Wow! Great work going on!