Evidence of Moore's Law Right Under My Tree

If you don't know what Moore's Law is, it's time to figure it out.  I'll save you the extra steps of going to Wikipedia yourself to learn about it...here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law

Understanding that Moore's Law relates to exponential growth of technology as time advances is one thing.  Seeing your own children open Christmas gifts that truly display the effect of Moore's Law on our lives shifts it to a whole different level of importance for me.

I have a three-year-old and a one-year-old.  Admittedly, these kids are both already playing with the iPad and both are getting more screen time than I did as a child at their age.  They are not going to be technological misfits -- of that I am fairly certain!  However, this Christmas I saw them open gifts that seem to be absolute game changers in the way of personal learning.  And then to think about the gifts they received last year and to compare them completely demonstrated for me the true impact of exponential change in our lifetime.

Last year my older daughter received a Leap Frog device that had a keyboard and a mouse and software cartridges that plugged in.  When it worked properly she learned some basic skills, such as the hand/eye coordination needed to maneuver the mouse, along with participating in some basic shape and color learning activities.  It was impressive to see her work and adapt to the technology, but the technology wasn't mind blowing or even surprising.  It was what I would have expected it to be.

This year, my younger daughter (only one) got an age-appropriate stuffed toy from Leap Frog, and it is completely knocking my socks off with possibilities.  This little pooch plugs in to the computer via USB cable and customizes itself to say her name, play some music of our choosing, and do some other basic customizations.  However, it is tied to her name and an email account.  Every month, with a reconnect of the USB cable, the dog will upload information to the Leap Frog website, and  I (and the grandma that was responsible for the purchase) will be getting an email that tracks what she is doing and learning in her interactions with the plush canine friend.  Just think of the possibility of that kind of personalized learning and tracking.  Just imagine what next year's toy for two and three-year-old children may be able to do.

My older daughter, now three, received Kinectimals, an interactive game for the Xbox Kinect platform where she interacts with her tiger cub, Atro (don't ask me where that name came from...when your three any sound that comes out of your mouth seems to be a perfectly suitable name for a pet, doll, or digital tiger cub...although I question why her dolly is named panther and her tiger cub is the one named Atro, but again, the logic will fail me every time).  What amazed me was that she adapted to the onscreen interactions so quickly and so easily that I felt a bit embarrassed that my own onscreen interaction is so jumpy and unnatural.  Only a year before she struggled for some time with the concepts of mouse and keyboard.  This year she naturally saw the connection between the movement of her hand (without any additional sensor) to the movement of the onscreen hands that allowed her to interact with a digital creature.  I know that developmentally this makes sense (she is far more ready for this kind of interaction at this age), but think about the impact of that kind of exposure at such a young age.  I recently watched (with an audience full of adults) a video from Microsoft that demonstrated their vision of how we would work and interact with technology in the future.  I know I was moved but questioned the possibility of some of the technologies displayed in the video.  However, the reality is that my daughter (and all the other little ones exposed to this kind of technology during their lives) will expect the technology to be seamless and ever-present.  My three-year-old is already reaching for my laptop screen and the television screen from time to time and trying to swipe icons or change channels by pressing the screen.  Her exposure is minimal, but it is developing an expectation of the way we interact with these devices.  It seems that the paradigm paralysis that so many of the adults struggle with in adopting the new technologies (the paralysis that has kept some of the technology at bay due to lack of serious adoption by a large percentage of the population) is also shifting to a period of exponential change as young people not only accept but expect this technology to be a part of their working and educational worlds.

I have long argued that the failure of our educational system to adapt and change to a model that holds relevance to our customers (the students that attend our schools and the parents that expect the best from our schools) places us in a position where one innovation may entirely invalidate the need for a public educational system.  For several nights now I've laid in bed and marveled at the concept that my children received gifts that may be one or two generations away from being the tools that make public education entirely irrelevant, primarily because these tools are entirely customizable to the individual and because they can be accessed at any time or any place.  These are the things we know our public schools need to do to advance, but it is the paradigm paralysis of the adults that forces us closer and closer to the edge of extinction, while young, innocent children are introduced to the tools that will educate them in the future.  It is almost eerie to consider!

Hopefully some key players in education also had a similar experience this holiday season and are starting to see the writing on the wall.  Perhaps we'll come back to 2011 invigorated and motivated to actually do something about making our educational system once again relevant.

A message to my current and former students (from Mr. Yearling)

Dear students and former students,

I needed to make everything official before I passed this on to anyone, but I wanted to let you know that I won't be returning to Fort Atkinson in the fall.  I've accepted a position in the Waukesha School District as an Instructional Technology Coordinator.  Put simply, I'll become a mentor of teachers, encouraging and coaching them to utilize technology to improve the quality of their instruction.  Ultimately, I hope this leads to a meaningful change in the way teachers educate students on a greater scale than I could ever have had in my own classroom.

So, there it is -- my big announcement.

My time in Fort has been nothing but positive and I truly have enjoyed working with all of you.  I want to thank you for allowing me to connect with so many of you in such unique ways. I feel fortunate to have been a part of your lives.  I have learned much from my time spent with you, and I carry those lessons and memories with me.  The hardest part of this change is knowing that I won't have the opportunity to work with students on a daily basis in the same way I worked with so many of you.  That is what makes teaching such a special job.  I will miss that and I will miss so many of you!

Feel free to contact me any time with updates on life, questions about this change or what I'm up to, or just a request for advice.  You know that I am always up for a thoughtful response to even life's toughest challenges. :)  Reach me at brianyearling@gmail.com if you want to be assured of reaching me (I like technology, but this Facebook thing freaks me out a bit...you kids and your zany technology).

Thank you to all of you for being such an important of my life.  It has been an incredible journey.
Mr. Y (or B.Y. depending on your era, or Y-dawg for those less formal students, or The Mighty Lumberjack for Dalton and those he has influenced).

Episode 10: Collaboration is Invigorating

Recently I finished my first attempt at teaching a masters level course in the use of multimedia in teaching and learning.  It was truly a great experience and the students were engaging, accepting, open-minded, and thought provoking in their response to the technology that was introduced throughout the class.

The letdown at the end of the class, however, is that the collaborative energy that is generated as we work with other motivated professionals has also come to an end.  This got me thinking: how can we sustain this important energy and enthusiasm in our professional lives without having to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to colleges and programs?  The reality is that it isn't as tough as it seems, but it takes a commitment to making it happen.  Listen to the podcast to hear just some of my ideas about how you can practically make it happen.
Just a suggestion: DO IT NOW!  Now most educators have a moment to breathe.  Set up your collaboration teams early in the summer!  Wait too long and summer will pass before your eyes.  Wait until fall and it will likely not happen.  How quickly we forget that the second that first bell rings we hold our breath and wait for a chance to breathe again; that next breath is generally not available until summer.
As always, we would love to hear from you.  Find us on Twitter, @brianyearling, and email us at gettingtechintoed@gmail.com .

Thanks for visiting and listening.
Brian

Podcast: Collaboration is Podcasting

Adopting educational technology: The journey to full integration

What I love most about my professional learning network (PLN) is the continuous opportunities it has provided me for reflection on my professional practice.  It never fails to inspire me when I'm in a funk, teach me something new when I least expect it, or provide insight that I would not have come to on my own.  My PLN has been particularly helpful lately as I've experienced incredible frustration with the sluggish pace of educational reform.

Recently while fumbling between an Ed Tech Talk podcast, reviewing some of the recent Tweets I missed, and I was thinking about comments I heard a recent tech committee meeting at our school.  I was specifically stuck on a comment made by one person that suggested that the district needed to provide both quality educational experiences and experiences utilizing technology. The suggestion that the two could not work in tandem reminded me that everyone at the table was at a very different place regarding their conceptual understanding of the role technology could play in changing the way we teach students.

Through the combination of it all I was reminded of just how much I've grown in my understanding of the ways that technology can transform and enhance educational delivery and instructional practice for educators willing to embrace it.  It wasn't really so long ago when I was the one scoffing at some of the very same ideas I now promote in these meetings.  I, too, probably wondered how we could find enough time in the day to teach all of the regular curriculum and then add new "technology specific skills" to the list.  The epiphany that technology can alter what education looks like probably never struck me when I was just beginning to grasp the concepts I fully accept now.  That is a realization one has to come to as we allow these concepts to roll around for a while.

This strikes me as an important revelation to hold on to when I experience the frustration that comes with trying to move the juggernaut of education at anything faster than a snail's pace.

While seeing can be believing within the world of educational technology (and thus doing is adopting???), there is no substitute for the time needed to allow the innovative ideas of this movement/pedagogy/practice to really take hold and transform the thoughts/beliefs/practices of those on the journey to adoption and integration of instructional technology principles.  Those of us that have made a habit of drinking the koolaid have to remember that.  Most of us needed that time to adjust as well.  It just happened that so many of us, as early adopters, were so far ahead of the wave that there was no pressure to adopt these ideas overnight.  Too often I find myself wanting to push the masses of educators just arriving to these concepts in a direction that they are not mentally prepared to accept.  I feel like that little kid who has been in the cave hundreds of times; now I just need my friends to trust me enough to follow me blindly into the darkness.  Fortunately, these professionals value their students and their profession enough to step cautiously when entering the darkness.  They are not going to follow blindly.  The result: I'm left to search for new and better ways to urge these educators along on the path to adoption and integration of educational technology more quickly than I came to the same full acceptance I want them to achieve.

One of the best ways that I can think of to help them achieve this growth and adoption more quickly is to take full advantage of something I was skeptical of during my journey: developing a high quality PLN.  For me my Twitter, Teachers 2.0, podcast, and personal networks serve as an ongoing source of ideas that help me to uncover new ideas, explore new terrain, and reflect on my practice.(you see, of course, the circular reasoning of this post...I end in the same place that I started).  My PLN serves as the ongoing backdrop of professional conversations that keep me focused on the areas of interest to me.  If I had the benefit of these conversations earlier in my educational technology adoption journey, perhaps I would have started to accept these ideas/practices more quickly.

Therefore, I'm going to begin suggesting to those that I would like to see move along more quickly in their instructional technology adoption that they form a network of influential thinkers that may help keep them focused on the task at hand: using technology to transform education.  Of course, this suggesting will best be served with a side of mentoring as to how to actually achieve this(do you remember how hard it was to start developing a high quality PLN?).  By the way, this is a heck of a way to start gaining even more followers and growing my virtual ego to an even greater extent.

Getting Tech Into Ed - The Podcast Returns

Well, hello strangers.  It has been far, far, far too long!  As those of you who have visited the site previously can see, we went through some major upgrades since the last time we aired a new podcast.
What has changed?  Well, to begin with, our family has welcomed another member: Sophie Grace.  With our oldest daughter Ella keeping us constantly on our toes, and our bubbly little Sophia biding for our attention, that has been the primary change that has filled our lives.

However, passion is a tough element to suppress.   Educational technology has truly become a passion and a mission for me over the past few years, and I truly enjoy the opportunity to share new ideas and thoughts with you.

Another new element has been added to the show.  My wife, Stacy, has agreed to step into the world of Getting Tech Into Ed.  Stacy is a marvelous school psychologist with an upbeat, energetic passion for her work, a solid understanding and focus on literacy, experience with K-8 students/teachers, a limitless well of innovative ideas, and a wide array of interventions and techniques to help struggling and special education students.  Having her to assist me as we explore technological innovation and share our findings with you will certainly increase the depth and bredth of the topics we cover in the show.

Also, mobile podcasting has finally found GTIE.  I am now using an iPod Touch to record some of my podcasts.  One of the primary hang-ups for me is finding the time to get in the studio and record and edit new material.  Using the iPod Touch and an app called iPodcaStudio to record shows while on the go, I am able to overcome that issue.  One of the hangups at this point is a drop in sound quality, but I'm exploring ways to fix that with a new cable and a lapelle microphone.  I'll let you know how that experiment goes for me.  I am doing my best to take some of the road noise and "tininess" out of the mobile recordings, but that is definitely a work in progress.

What's in this episode?

In this episode I am recording in the car.  I have been eagerly anticipating attending the WEMTA conference for quite some time.  However, I began to think about the irony of my growing enthusiasm for attending this conference.  What is most exhilarating about attending a conference is sharing your ideas and taking new ideas from people at the conference.  However, these people are often complete strangers that we do not work with.  I questioned why I don't find this same enthusiasm to share ideas with my colleagues in my own department/building/district.

This show is my rambling thoughts on that issue.  It does provide some motivation and some ideas as to why I don't feel excited to share with my colleagues on a daily basis.  Perhaps in identifying why I do not attempt to share often (and I am as honest as I can be about the issue), I can begin to change that pattern to allow my closest colleagues to become a trusted part of my personal/professional learning network.  As I conclude in the show, in doing so, maybe I will find even greater satistfaction daily if I can begin to count on the people I work with to actively participate in the journey of integrating technology into their/our classroom instruction together.

Sign off

I want to thank you for your time in reading/listening and sharing this site/podcast with others.  I also want to encourage you to share your own ideas and reflections with Stacy and I.  Please email comments, show ideas, or feedback to gettingtechintoed@gmail.com.

Here's to being back in the podcasting game!  You'll hear from us again soon.

Brian and Stacy Yearling

Getting Tech Into Ed co-hosts

Episode 7: Managing digital video projects

I've experimented in my classroom with digital video since my rookie year as a teacher. In fact, it was a first year video project that began to turn me on to the field of educational technology. For me, digital video is a transformational technology that educators can employ to explore new learning outcomes that were not even possible before video and home video editing was so readily available to consumers/educators.

However, it is clear that many educators do not feel comfortable with the concept of digital video shooting and editing, and it is understandable to hear educators admit they are intimidated by the technology and by the process. Today's show isn't going to work miracles for anyone in the audience. The first step to bringing digital video projects into your classroom is accepting the challenge to try something new, knowing that the process to becoming proficient in this skill area is a bumpy one with pitfalls along the way. If that doesn't sound too much like a pep talk, that's because it isn't. The ability to shoot video and create video projects isn't an unattainable skill. It just requires that teachers accept the reality that they may not know everything right away, and that they may have to rely on people and communities surrounding them to help them out (including students, who can, at times, be the greatest resource of all).

So, today's show is for those teachers who are willing to accept the challenge to accept digital video into your classroom and who are ready to jump head first into the deep end of the pool (I promise you, once you start, you will realize it isn't nearly as scary as you thought). It is also for those who are tinkering or who have worked with digital video for a while, yet are looking for some new tips to try out to make digital video projects even more successful in your classroom.

By listening to the show, you will get a brief mention on a series of tips that I've come up with to make digital video projects smoother and more efficient in their use of class time. The links from the show below will provide a brief synopsis of those tips.

Links from the Show

Pre-planning:

• Do an inventory on what equipment you have available to you
  
  
  
  • If you do not have digital video cameras, digital cameras with video can work well.
  
  


• Find out what video editing program is available on the computer already
  
  
  
  • Two common programs: Windows Movie Maker (pc) or IMovie (Mac)
  
  


• Based on your personal skill level, locate online tutorials matched to your ability level


• Examine your curriculum and determine what learning objectives MUST be demonstrated
  
  
  
  • If you don't know what they are supposed to show you, how will they know?
  
  


• Engage your tech support network at this point and allow them to provide support to you

Before the shooting/editing begins:

• Clearly communicate your learning objectives immediately, in writing and verbally


• Provide a grading rubric before any planning begins


• Force students to actively engage in a rigorous pre-planning/storyboarding process
  
  
  
  • This will allow you to avoid major errors before the hard/tedious work begins.
  
  


• If you are doing group work, take an ability/skills inventory of your students
  
  
  
  • Create groups based on varied abilities and skills that will be needed
  
  
  • Make sure you've got a "tech" or "video" person, a write, and actors in each group
  
  


• Provide just enough camera and software training without going into overkill mode
  
  
  
  • Students are more capable with cameras than most adults...they use them daily
  
  
  • Students will need an introduction into the layout of the video editing software
  
  


• Keep your expectations and the students ideas in the realm of realistic
  
  
  
  • Feature films take thousands of man hours and lots of expensive equipment to create
  
  
  • Setting realistic goals will make the end product more fulfilling and less intimidating
  
  


• Spend time teaching or showing kids various types of shots that can be done on cameras
  
  
  
  • Interesting videos can be created by creatively thinking about the shots included
  
  
  • Spend more time on this than on camera basics or software tutorials
  
  


• Give yourself more time than you think you need. I always overshoot by one week

Lights, Camera, Action: During shooting and editing

• While shooting in class may be fun, encourage students to do acting/shooting at home
  
  
  
  • Acting/shooting can take a lot of valuable class time...keep that for the editing needs
  
  


• Save, save, save...and remind your students to do so as well
  
  
  
  • Editing can use lots of computer resources that cause computers to crash
  
  
  • Regular saving can help students to avoid "losing it all"
  
  


• Encourage students to keep files organized and in one common place
  
  
  
  • If in groups, make sure all group members know how to access those files
  
  


• Constantly reiterate the learning objectives for the project


• Have "background" work that can be done at the same time as video editing
  
  
  
  • While these are labor intensive projects, you will have completion at different times
  
  
  • This will also help to keep kids on task and working toward finishing their project
  
  


• Maintain open communication between group members
  
  
  
  • Dominant group members can kill the collaborative spirit...keep them at bay
  
  
  • Encourage all students to utilize their skill set (they've identified) to contribute
  
  

Finishing the project and screening it

• Each video program has a procedure for "finishing" the movie (combining files into one file)
  
  
  
  • Review that process with your students regularly
  
  


• Before the movie is finished and burned to CD/DVD, have the group review the movie
  
  
  
  • Give them a copy of the rubric and have them score their project
  
  
  • This will encourage them to make changes instead of saying, "Good enough!"
  
  


• Announce a screening day that will allow the whole class to view the projects
  
  
  
  • Set a date for a pre-screening day "run through"
  
  
  • This is where you check to make sure the files/cds/dvds all work on your computer
  
  
  • This encourages students to finish on time and makes screening day flow better
  
  


• Stick to the standards set forth in your rubric -- beautiful movies that do not demonstrate learning should not be given a pass because they look nice

Final Tips

• Keep students focused and remind them they are not Hollywood producers
  
  
  
  • Students tend to focus on details that do not impact the big picture of the movie
  
  
  • Guide them through this by encouraging them to come back to it at the end
  
  


• Encourage students to do the editing at school
  
  
  
  • While sometimes unavoidable, if the editing is done at one person's home, then they will be doing most of the work
  
  
  • Digital video projects are powerful when the group is involved
  
  


• Be understanding...accidents happen and issues come up. Be flexible when you can.


• Start small -- big projects take lots of resources and lots of time
  
  
  
  • For the beginner to succeed, starting small is an absolute ke
  
  

Tech Trial - Storyboard Pro:

This digital/electronic storyboarding software is a free program that allows students to do their storyboarding work on the computer. It provides the flexibility to move shots and scenes around, but it also encourages the directors to be incredibly detailed before they begin shooting. A sharp little program

Tech Trial - Teach with Video:

Steven Katz has put together a nice resource for teachers to come to for resources and ideas to improve their digital video projects. Steven has an impressive podcast, great ideas, and some useful resources on the website. This isn't geared to solely beginners or to experienced movie editors. There are a wide range of ideas and resources that visitors can utilize. Check it out, and make sure you check out his podcast.

If you've got questions, comments, ideas, suggestions, or want to share your use of non-linear PowerPoints with me, send it to: gettingtechintoed@gmail.com

Thanks for listening.
Brian Yearling

Host and Instructional Technology Enthusiast

Episode 6: Google Docs in your classroom

Google Docs isn't new to the online community, but to many teachers, it is a concept that is entirely new and exists in unexplored territory in our schools and in our classrooms. It is an incredible, free, functional, and intuitive tool, yet it doesn't get the attention it deserves from the educational community.

Google Docs is an online office suite software package released by Google. Anyone who has signed up for a free Gmail account can access Google Docs. The reality is, though, that most teachers have not explored the concepts of online software because many districts do not utilize these resources at all. This is unfortunate, as a tool like Google Docs is robust enough to do most of the heavy lifting of other more traditional office productivity software (namely the products from Microsoft), yet Web 2.0 modeled to incorporate real-time collaboration and accountability tools.
Teachers will be well suited to examine Google Docs to understand what it can offer them in their classroom instruction. For the price, it is a tool that absolutely deserves a first look. Due to the functionality, it deserves consideration in districts across the country as an alternative to high priced productivity software.

Links from the Show

Google Docs in Plain English - a video from the Common Craft Show:

This is a video that will help newcomers to Google Docs understand the bigger concept and purpose behind this revolutionary productivity tool.

Google Docs Tutorial Guides - Google teams up with Weekly Reader:

This is a series of three basic PDF tutorials created by Google in partnership with Weekly Reader to teach the use of Google Docs, and specifically, to teach the skill of revision in writing.

Google Docs Usage Tutorial:

Another basic Google Docs tutorial with some commonly asked questions and detailed step-by-step instructions.

Google for Educators Online Discussion Group:

Although I just stumbled upon this group, it looks like a solid resource for some of the major questions asked about Google Docs, and perhaps some additional support from the makers of the product.

Using Google Forms for Electronic Quizzes:

If you are interested in immediate feedback offered through online quizzes and surveys, check out Google Forms, a part of the Google Docs suite. This video shows how to easily create a Google Form survey, and how to manipulate the Google Spreadsheet to gather commonly utilized statistics on student performance.

Google Docs Bar for Firefox:

If you are a Firefox user and you begin to use Google Docs regularly, check out this freeware program. It is an extension for Firefox, but it allows you to access your Google Docs account at the touch of a button in your web browser.

Classroom 2.0:

I mentioned it several times in the show, and I will link to it here, again. If you haven't logged on to Classroom 2.0, you really need to try it out. The best advice I can give, though, is to not be afraid to make connections with the community. Find like-minded educators/professionals on the site and send them a message or write a note on their page. Your willingness to reach out to meet them will pay enormous dividends and will be rewarding and enjoyable. If you sign up, you can find me on the site: brianyearling.

Tech Trial - Fences:

For those of use who cannot seem to even keep our computer desktop organized, this is a handy little tool. Organize your desktop in seconds. A freeware program.

Tech Trial - Weebly:

A handy website generator, Weebly allows users to create sharp looking web pages in no time. Easy to use, no coding necessary, and ideal for the teacher/administrator/student who wants to create a nice looking page but doesn't want to invest the time to do all of the coding properly. Very easy to use..

If you've got questions, comments, ideas, suggestions, or want to share your use of non-linear PowerPoints with me, send it to: gettingtechintoed@gmail.com

Thanks for listening.
Brian Yearling

Host and Instructional Technology Enthusiast