1 Laptop : 1 Student

A New Beginning

2009-07-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

I am in a new position. My experience as a technology coordinator in a 1:1 environment should come in handy as I have become the Director of Technology at the Cove School in Northbrook, IL. And while a 1:1 initiative is not a definite thing, the writing is certainly on the wall that this is the direction they want. The difference of Cove versus all other schools I have run across in the wish and wanting to go with a 1:1 is that Cove is a special education school that covers grades K-12. It also accepts outside placements from the surrounding areas where IEPs dictate what students are required to have and the plan of education we are to take. Many times students come from their home districts with their own laptops.

Even with all this in mind, in starting the process to see if this is even a viable option for this school, I have several posts I have pooled to get the discussions here started.

The first post is from David Jakes. It is not specific to 1:1 at all, but instead looking at the learning space and how it may need to change.

The next three posts come from TED. One of these posts is again not even specific to 1:1, but instead to the changes in the social media landscape. The 20 minute talk is by Clay Shirky. The other two posts (here and here) are very specific to 1:1 and are presented by Dr. Nicholas Negroponte of MIT who was also heading up the OLPC project. These two videos discuss the tech and changes the OLPC has made.

Finally, you have to think not only of the stuff, but also the staff and students. Will this be viable in this school? One of the things teachers will have to consider are the following.

Why is Gary Stager the Bad Guy?

2008-12-09T08:34:00.006-06:00

In the past I noted the brash attempt by Intel to smash the XO in the third world market with the only intention of making money. While the XO is a laptop that is designed and has its philosophy based on education and learning, the Intel "competitor" is focused on more of the same broken philosophy that ed tech has had for some time. That broken philosophy of focusing on a familiar operating environment (Windows) and familiar tools (software) that do nothing but promote cutting, pasting, and no real Bloom-esqe higher order thinking skills out of the box.

So, what is Gary Stager saying in his blog post "The Best Way to Make Enemies .... Do the Impossible" that is so controversial? According to a follow-up blog post, Stager makes clear that this article was refused to be published in two separate "education" magazines. Look, I understand that ad revenue is a big way these education magazines survive, but there is a also a level of intellectual honesty that we all must maintain at the same time. For an "education" focused magazine not to publish an article critical of a product that under-serves students amounts to complete intellectual and academic bankruptcy. It is on a level where Gaileo was placed on house arrest by the Catholic Church for teaching the Sun, not Earth, was the center of our solar system. Such ideas went against the dogma of the Church and threatened its base at a time of religious reformation. Intel and other big laptop manufacturers are, I am sure, threatened by the XO in a similar way. Gary is simply the Galileo pointing out the flaws of other Classmate-type laptops and argues well to the reasoning behind why the XO is a superior product.

We are in a period of education reformation where new technology and "traditional" technology approaches are banging heads.

Thoughts on David's Letter

2008-10-22T10:32:00.003-05:00

I found the Open Letter to the Next President in Tech & Learning by David Warlick. I agree with the four point by and large, and offer my suggestions on how to make those four general points. They are not the complete solution, but at least my attempt to suggest a way to meet David's points.

1. Keep politics out of education.

Very difficult to do since school boards are elected entities. However, there is one place where politics can be culled from education. I am, and have been, suggesting the dissolution of the US Department of Education. In lieu of spending money to support and run the department, money could then go directly to the states. The money would be doled out proportionally that takes into account poverty, test score and attendance figures.

2. Widen the definition of accountability.

David's argument to provide more on-the-job training is nothing new. Shop classes have done this very well for years. What has not changed is the way teachers are trained to provide this on-the-job style teaching in the core classroom. We are still product in (worksheets)/product out (worksheet turned around for a grade).

3. Recognize that the greatest assets of our schools are in the people.

I have yet to hear a convincing argument made to not promote the use of performance based pay. The argument against always comes back to the quality of the students. Yet, better teachers are usually easy to identify in a school.

4. We skimp on the arts at out own peril.

Agree 100%. In one disastrous semester at Purdue University (two Fs and a D), the only thing that kept me going to class everyday was marching band practice. You don't need to read Daniel Pink to know that students involved in the arts are usually better students.

Parental Control Blues

2008-10-17T10:45:00.004-05:00

One of the nicest features of Mac OS X Leopard are the enhanced Parental Controls. The new Parental Controls allow me the admin, from Workgroup Manager, control such aspects as filtering out profanity in the built-in Apple Dictionary, limit access to certain websites, and even set time limits or windows of login opportunity.

In the hyper-sensitive district I am in with our 1:1 program I decided to implement our standard proxy filtering as well as implement the Parental Controls to further filter Internet pages. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

The bad news is that our proxy server requires a student login or the access will be restricted completely (so no baddies can use our proxy to pass along their bad traffic... see previous post of that fun). What was happening to the best of my understanding from testing this out was the Parental Controls were somehow not allowing students to login to the proxy server. It would not even allow the proxy login dialogue window to popup on the screen. This was the same for Safari and FireFox. The result was ALL Internet traffic was being blocked while outside the district.

The major indication that this was an Apple problem was that from my XP computer at home I was able to setup a proxy with no problems, thus elminating my filter as the culprit.

I was then able to narrow down the problem by using my Macbook Pro to recreate the proxy at home, and again no problems. This led me to start looking into the System Preferences on the student computers. Since I have used this proxy setup now for three years, and this being our first year with Leopard on student machines, it did not take long to track down where the problem lay.

So for the time being I was able to remove the usage of Parental Controls via WorkGroup Manager. Our DerbyTech CIPAFilter does a great job filtering our traffic and I will keep it this way. However, for personal use, the Parental Controls do seem to do a very good job, almost too good.

Post on how to sync your iPhone/iPod Touch with Google Calendar and Contacts

2008-09-24T11:00:00.004-05:00

I found this invaluable. Wireless syncing of my contacts and calendar is a big plus. Yeah, I can use the Google App, but I like the Apple Calendar and Contacts on my iPod Touch. Just hope this company sticks around.

http://www.ianfernando.com/2008/sync-google-calendar-with-iphone-3g/

Blacklist Blackmail

2008-09-23T08:24:00.003-05:00

I could not remember the blacklist group out of Europe that wants 50 Euros to expedite my removal from their blacklist. Basically, this in a sense is blackmail. I have dealt with several of the blacklists my district IP address was popping up on and it was a quick, speedy, painless recovery. These guys say my IP has to be clear for a week or pay the fee. AT&T, Comcast, Barracuda all quickly got me removed within 24-48 hours.

Instead I just changed my IP, as would any good spammer who would just change their proxy.

Here is the URL for these blackmailers.

http://www.uceprotect.net/

If you use a realtime blacklist, remove them from your service. There are tons out there doing the same service.

I got pwned and blacklisted, now what?!

2008-09-20T00:10:00.007-05:00

For all the talk about education and how to help students learn, I sometimes forget that outside our school district is a cold world. I was reminded how cold it is recently.

We had two big problems over the last couple of days with network connectivity outside the building. I worked with Illinois Century Network, Google and DerbyTech today to narrow down to the problem. The two issues were two different degrees of severity:

Mail messages were not being delivered from the archive and spam filter to the mailboxes hosted at Google.

We were subject to, for lack of a better term, a cyberattack that exploited our proxy web content filter.

The mail service was only partially functioning as of late Wednesday night as Google appeared to have changed the address where our mail was directed. As a result, when an email message was passed to someone in the school district, it got to our mail archive/spam filter and got stuck as our filter could not pass on that message to Google to be placed in the appropriate mailbox. Around 10AM Thursday morning I was able to isolate that problem with the help of DerbyTech and a backlog of messages then started to pour out of the archive to Google.

However, I noticed that this emptying of the archive was taking a lot longer than normal as there was more than normal emails coming in to my mailbox alerting me to someone tripping the content filter.

As it turns out the proxy used by students to filter their laptops at home was compromised. In my attempt to make things a little more transparent for kids to get online at home with their school issued and filtered laptops, I removed the necessity for a username and password. Normally, students would have to, while at home, enter in a username and password to access our filter. If they did not enter in that username and password, then they could not access the filter. Instead, they did not have to enter in that username and password with the changes I made. Their traffic was still getting filtered just like it does here at school. The term for this is an open proxy. Closed proxy would be if they had to enter the username and password.

Unfortunately, the open proxy was available for others to use. My thought was why would someone use a proxy that has a filter on it? However, I have evidence in the form of our firewall sending messages of inappropriate filter hits to my email. As it stands now, there are over 16,000 filter hits from outside our district from places like Dover, New York City, Frankfort (Germany), Berlin, Belgrade, Beijing and Caracas. I was able to trace to these locations from the addresses these hits were coming from. What these people were able to do was run their internet traffic through our network to make it appear that their traffic was coming from our district instead of, say, China. We openly proxied their traffic to other websites making it appear we were the ones requesting access to certain sites.

Here is why spammers would use our open proxy. A known spammer in Belgrade cannot simply post comment spam on a blog because the blog knows that spammer address and will immediately reject it. However, my district is not a known spammer, and has an open proxy. The spammer will send their spam through their firewall to launder the comment and make the blog think this comment is legit. The good news is that our filter blocked over 16,000 attempts to access certain inappropriate sites. Unfortunately these were spam computers programmed to send out several hundred attempts a minute to post comment spam to blogs around the world.

Because of the number of requests being processed through our filter the network loads were very very heavy starting mid day on Wednesday and through to mid day Thursday. That would explain the problems with Google searches coming up with an error. This also explains why there were intermittent outages at our three bulidings and from parents outside the district trying to access online grades as all these people were trying to get down the same pipe as the spammers. The junior high head end did not suffer as much because they only had to go out of the network-- not come into and then go out of the network. Google saw the incredible number of requests for information from our district and saw that as a possible attack or virus. Thus, some people would get a screen like Google was forbidding them to access their site, and making them input a random set of letters into a box to prove they were not a spammer or virus.

Though the earlier inbound mail problem (problem #1) was actually something totally separate, the problem with email messages coming back as undeliverable starting around noon on Thursday was totally related to this cyberattack (problem #2). As spam messages continued to mount around the world on blogs, originating from our address, the realtime filters began to tag us as a spammer. Comcast, AT&T and Barracuda began bouncing messages from us. The error messages received on the bounce I had never seen before, but clearly provided links that we were now beginning to be known as a spammer address.

With this information, and with help from Illinois Century Network, Google and DerbyTech, I was able to close the proxy (DerbyTech), ensure the attacks were slowing down (Illinois Century Network), and begin to restore our address as a legit non-spammer (Google). As it stands now, I have re-instituted the need to input a username and password to use our proxy. I have taken the steps to get our district cleared on any blacklists that would reject our emails, and it looks like most are again accepting our emails. Our network loads are back to normal and ICN will continue to monitor for the next few days to ensure there isn't another attack. The spammers will continue to attempt, but as they need to enter a username and password they should begin to remove us from their list of open proxies.

The good that has come from this incident has me looking more at ways to prevent this in the future. Setting up an SPF record for our domain is a start. I also cleaned up the accepted mail relays from our email archive system. And I am now considering implementing more stringent authentication for the proxy which is available to us, but in my limited capacities I have to find the time to set this up.

Hmm. I wonder if those students in my district are still learning?

P.S. Getting off these blacklists on the surface seems simple, but it truly is a painstaking process. I even found one blacklister in Germany who wanted to charge me 50 Euros to be removed from their list OR I had to wait 7 days since the last indicated malicious activity. THAT sounds like robbery.

Right On, Terry!

2008-07-28T14:18:00.001-05:00

In response to this.

Right on, Terry. I dare say there are those too who may have offered tremendous insight only to have left education to become "professional eduspeakers" only to rehash old dated ideas with new jargon. Resting on laurels is dangerous. Unfortunately, reputation seems to carry weight in education and there seems to be too many "nice" people. Maybe a result of the mindset that all students can achieve greatness is carried forward to our peers? I seem to think that is the case more often than not.

Locking Down Firefox in Mac

2008-06-02T11:12:00.005-05:00

These instructions were hard to come by. I had to translate a windows iteration of these instructions, but in the end, this worked like a charm. I have always been happy with the performace of Firefox, but could not lock down the proxy settings. Now, I have a way.

Install Firefox (I installed ver 3 RC 1).

When using Mac, you cannot set the proxy settings across the machine and lock it down like you can via Workgroup Manager for Safari. Using the instructions found here, I translated the instructions to Mac from Windows.
The instructions are basically the same except to access the greprefs directory, you need to CTRL click on the Firefox application itself and select "Show Package Contents." Under the "Contents" folder is a folder called "MacOS." In here you will find the Firefox binary file (which is equivalent to the Firefox.exe file found in the Windows walk-through).
In following the instructions I found the Automatic Mozilla Configurator here. I did create a .txt file, but had to create the .cfg file and then import the .cfg back to reedit and clear out the extra characters that were created by my TextEditor.app. Here is my config file I made. It locked in the proxies and also does not allow the user to clear their browser history. Your settings might and probably will vary.
//
lockPref("network.proxy.ftp", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.ftp_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.gopher", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.gopher_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.http", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.http_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.ssl", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.ssl_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.socks", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.socks_port", 8080); lockPref("privacy.sanitize.sanitizeOnShutdown", false); lockPref("privacy.item.cache",false); lockPref("privacy.item.downloads",false); lockPref("privacy.item.formdata",false); lockPref("privacy.item.history",false); lockPref("privacy.item.sessions",false); lockPref("privacy.item.cookies",false); lockPref("privacy.item.offlineApps",false); lockPref("browser.history_expire_days_min",300); lockPref("browser.history_expire_days.mirror",180);
lockPref("browser.history_expire_days",180);
lockPref("app.update.enabled",false);
lockPref("app.update.auto",false);
lockPref("network.proxy.type",1);
lockPref("network.proxy.no_proxies_on","localhost, 127.0.0.1");

Creating a new basic Macbook image

2008-05-31T21:23:00.012-05:00

With our new student Macbook image, I am starting with our most up to date Macbook. Here is the list of what I have done to prepare our new image. This post will change as I edit the initial image.

Installed Leopard with a clean install. I installed all the fonts and printers as well. While this creates a larger image (9.5GB vs. 5.9GB), it makes for less hassle. Even though we use FileWave, I don't want to deal with font or printer headaches like I started with last year.
Changed the Software Update services to our local update server using the directions found here and then turned off Software Update in System Preferences.
In System Preferences, set Date & Time to set automatically. I just use the default time.apple.com, but you can use your master LDAP server if you wish. Never had a problem with time.apple.com.
Set the service order in the Network settings so that Airport has the top priority. Since these machines will be used via wireless 99.999% of the time, it will provide the fastest uptime when booting.
Installed iWork '08 and iLife '08. We use FileWave to maintain our software packages, but we have a site license for both packages and want to have those programs immediately available after a machine is reimaged. Also installed iMovie HD 6 which can be found here.

As an aside, I changed the Pages template titled "Blank." Too many people were typing in the header instead of the body of the document and then becoming confused when their text repeated on page two. So go into Pages, take the Blank template and in the Document Inspector uncheck Header and Footer (I also set the margins all around to one inch). Save this new document as a template with a name indicating this is not the original template.
Find the Pages.app file and CTRL click on it. Select "Show Package Contents." Under "Resources" is the Template folder, with another folder under it called "Blank." Rename that folder to "Blank.original." Create a new folder under Template and call it "Blank." Now copy your edited template into that folder and rename it "Blank.template."
Propegate the template folder permissions. The owner should be "system" and read/write settings should be 775 (rw-rw-r--). If the owner is stuck on your local username, it should still work.
TEST!

Install all Apple updates.
Turn on Apple Remote Desktop and SSH in System Preferences under Sharing. SSH is necessary should I have to remotely reinstall FileWave. In Leopard, ARD is Remote Management (and you can set what the remote user can do under Computer Settings) and SSH is Remote Login.
Turned off Bluetooth however, will not disable this time around.
In the Directory Utility (Application > Utilities > Directory Utility) set your client authentication servers and turn on or off any services you might be running (i.e. Active Directory).
Install TechTool Deluxe from Apple Protection Plan CD.
Install Adobe Shockwave, Reader, Flash and Air. Turn off any automatic update checks. I also ran setup with Adobe Reader and turned off the check updates button and made sure that the initial splash screen did not show up anymore. I then copied the user preference setting (User Home > Library > Preferences > com.adobe.acrobat.80.sh.plist) into the system library (Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences).
Go into Safari and change the proxy settings to our content filter's public domain name so the students have to authenticate on the inside and outside of the network. I know this is managed via WorkGroup Manager, but I also want to make sure this is hardwired into the machine for all accounts. Once those changes are made, copy the preference file from the current user account (User Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.Safari.plist) to the system library (Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences).
Enable the root user. You can find instructions to do that in Leopard here.
For students, I disable Dashboard because it became a nuisance and students were placing way too many widgets on their boards thus bogging down their system. Instructions to do this may be found here.
Set the Quicktime Preferences in System Preferences. Specifically, set the streaming speed to 56K. Then copy the Quicktime Preference (User Home > Library > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences) from your account to the system library (Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences).
Install Flip4Mac. It is a Quicktime component that plays Windows Media files. Once installed, go into System Preferences and adjust the Flip4Mac preferences. Specifically, the in the Player tab, check all boxes and click "Reclaim." Also, click the "Update" tab and set it to NEVER. Close System Preferences and copy your preference files (User Home > Library > Preferences > net.telestream.wmv.plist)(User Home > Library > Preferences > net.telestream.wmv.import.plist) into the system library (Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences).
Set the DVD Region Code to 1. You will need a region protected DVD to confirm this is done. It looks like our images defaulted to this, but in the past this has not been the case.
You can edit the Safari menu with the Interface Builder found in XCode 3 tools. XCode 3 is an apple developer tool and you have to be a member to download this free tool. Signing up was free for me to do this, and I think you can actually find this software on your Leopard installation DVD. The file is a little heafty however (1.1GB) so download will take some time. This link will get you started on where to look and make changes to the menu. I want to remove the option to private browser and the interface to clear the users history. I have yet to find how to delete the clear history option in the menu as it does not show up when editing the "MainMenu.nib" file. When done with the XCode tools, it is probably best to remove it from your image.
Install Firefox (I installed ver 3 RC 1).

When using Mac, you cannot set the proxy settings across the machine and lock it down like you can via Workgroup Manager for Safari. Using the instructions found here, I translated the instructions to Mac from Windows.
The instructions are basically the same except to access the greprefs directory, you need to CTRL click on the Firefox application itself and select "Show Package Contents." Under the "Contents" folder is a folder called "MacOS." In here you will find the Firefox binary file (which is equivalent to the Firefox.exe file found in the Windows walk-through).
In following the instructions I found the Automatic Mozilla Configurator here. I did create a .txt file, but had to create the .cfg file and then import the .cfg back to reedit and clear out the extra characters that were created by my TextEditor.app. Here is my config file I made. It locked in the proxies and also does not allow the user to clear their browser history.
//
lockPref("network.proxy.ftp", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.ftp_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.gopher", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.gopher_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.http", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.http_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.ssl", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.ssl_port", 8080);
lockPref("network.proxy.socks", "independence.d128.k12.il.us"); lockPref("network.proxy.socks_port", 8080); lockPref("privacy.sanitize.sanitizeOnShutdown", false); lockPref("privacy.item.cache",false); lockPref("privacy.item.downloads",false); lockPref("privacy.item.formdata",false); lockPref("privacy.item.history",false); lockPref("privacy.item.sessions",false); lockPref("privacy.item.cookies",false); lockPref("privacy.item.offlineApps",false); lockPref("browser.history_expire_days_min",300); lockPref("browser.history_expire_days.mirror",180);
lockPref("browser.history_expire_days",180);
lockPref("app.update.enabled",false);
lockPref("app.update.auto",false);
lockPref("network.proxy.type",1);
lockPref("network.proxy.no_proxies_on","localhost, 127.0.0.1");

Install FileWave 3.5 client software.
Upload the FileWave booster selection script. This will ensure that should the user take their machine to another building, they pull any updates from their local booster and not drag across the network. I worked with FileWave to develop the bootscript and why it is not a staple in a mobile environment and standard in the FileWave program makes no sense. To set the script to run during boot, see this page on how to set a login hook in macosx.
Clear the FileWave settings so the machine name is blank. Instructions can be found here. This has to be done before running disk repairs and such.

LAST STEP: From the Leopard install disk, run Disk Utilty and repair the disk and permissions.
BEFORE TESTING WITH USER ACCOUNTS: Make sure to create an image of this "clean" image. You don't want to taint your clean image with a user account that is not working perfectly. It is a bit more time consuming, but really makes a huge difference down the road.
TIP: When you create the master image, disable disk suspension/sleep mode, especially if pushing the image across a network.

I know I know

2008-03-09T01:39:00.002-06:00

I know I have not posted here. I am sorry. I have been tremendously busy this school year. Between eRate, tech planning, a new student management system and still getting MY system setup in my district... and my disenchantment with 1:1 programs... I have been remiss from visiting here and being inspired to write.

Why disenchanted? Because the beast that the 1:1 program I oversee has become a bigger beast than I ever thought. There is deficit spending going on and this program has become the proverbial third rail.

Will update further, later.

Fantastic Photos of Peruvian Children, their families and the XO

2008-01-04T08:54:00.001-06:00

I think the photos tell the best story. I found them while trying to find the source on the Washington Post website of the suspect eSchoolNews story on the Peruvian village of Arahuay and the early successes of the XO. Please excuse all the links as I could not find a single photo stream. I wanted to make sure the proper credit was given to the photographer, Martin Mejia. Digital storytelling at its finest! This should have been the story.

A boy writes on his laptop in Arahuay, an...
Kevin, 11, checks internet on his laptop...z
Renzo, 8, reads on his laptop in Arahuay,...
Exadith Solis, 8, types on her laptop in...
Leonel Rojas, 8, right, uses his laptop...
A group of children have breakfast at a...
Teacher Erika Velasco helps children find...
Exadith Solis, 8, looks up while using her...
Kevin, 11, studies in his home in Arahuay,...
Erick, left, and Fernando talk during a...
A group of children walk home after school...
A group of children read on their laptops...
Francisca Puma prepares the breakfast in...

It's On! Intel Quits OLPC

2008-01-04T08:36:00.001-06:00

Digital Journal - Intel Quits One Laptop Per Child Program

Intel has quit the board on the OLPC. Even being on the board of the OLPC project, Intel still went ahead with developing the Classmate PC. This will be very interesting to see how a non-profit competes in the open market with a profit-based company. This also becomes an open source battle as OLPC uses the Sugar installation of Linux and the Classmate PC is running Windows XP. Microsoft has been trying to work with OLPC to run a stripped version of XP on the XO (whew, lots of "X"s), but again that falls into the realm of focusing on the "stuff," not on learning and education. OLPC should stick to its guns and continue to develop the product with its vision and mission in mind, not to placate the Windows world.

Fluff Piece in Peru OLPC.

2008-01-03T09:43:00.001-06:00

--Update--

It looks like eSchoolNews has been lifting works done on other sites and not giving proper credit to their sources. I incorrectly attributed this story to eSchoolNews. Gary Stager correctly pointed out to me (thanks for reading my blog, by the way) that the story first appeared as an AP article. I have removed the link to eSchoolNews and have redirected to the AP article itself on Yahoo. Frank Bajak gets the ire now from my post.

However, check my later post that has links to the AP photos from the village of Arahuay.

-------------

Laptop project enlivens Peruvian hamlet

I am a bit disappointed in this piece by Frank Bajak about the OLPC in Peru. The article indicates early that there is new information that would help waylay the early criticisms of the project. However, what I see in the article is the same interest a child shows in a new toy, and not early indications of the success of the program. This article lacks any substantive change in the school. Sure, the school focused on in this story did have its population jump by 10 when word spread they were getting laptops. I would argue the population might have jumped the same if the school were getting mobile carts and smartboards.

At this point, to say early indications of the OLPC program will ease skepticism is glib. There is nothing here that shows:

1. A paradigm shift in the school (beyond there being a laptop).
2. Nothing more than childlike interest in the XOs.
3. Learning.
4. How the teachers have changed the way they teach. Are they more constructivist? Do they even know what that means?

I am not saying these changes aren't happening. What I am saying is this article does a poor job of demonstrating these changes if they are happening.

OLPC As Constructivist Education Reform

2007-12-28T08:02:00.000-06:00

Stephen Downes tipped me to an article posted in OLPC News. The article talks about collaboration and constructivism, but I think it gets more to the core of what the OLPC is about.

On Downes's website, I posted the following comment.

The difference being between the OLPC and its competitors is that they both are competing on two separate platforms. Intel and Asus are trying to push low end products into the third world. Meanwhile, the OLPC is trying to reform education through technology in the third world. Ultimately, there will be more Intel and Asus machines making it into the market, but in the long-term, I would wager that the OLPC will have lasting results. It simply comes down to the basic premise of vision, which the OLPC clearly has.

Whether you are spending money on laptops for every student, or spending money on SMARTboards, or Nettrekker, or Atomic Learning, or UnitedStreaming, or whatever, if you have no real purpose, no long term goal, no vision, then the dollars spent are dollars wasted. Peru and Uruguay have taken the correct steps, in my mind, to increase digital literacy in their countries by investing in the vision of the OLPC. Countries considering the other options should really look critically at the vision offered by Intel and Asus. All I see in those programs are students viewed as potential future customers, not life-long learners.

Remedies for a Lack of Digital Literacy in Education Leadership

2007-12-15T22:19:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, I posted about the abysmal digital literacy I have witnessed since beginning my masters work almost a year ago. I wanted to post the problems and get them out there, but wanted to reflect on the solutions a bit more.

I was speaking with a colleague about what I witnessed, and shared the PDF of the most offending use of PowerPoint I have ever seen. Interestingly, the perspective NECC presenters were finding out whether their proposals were accepted or rejected that day. This colleague was giddy saying that he had been, in fact, accepted to present. So, I asked the question, what are you presenting? Is it "Web 2.0 integration into a Moodle environment that focuses on Digital Storytelling on the subject of Google Maps Mashups?" He simply said, "PowerPoint."

I was stunned.

Have we gone so far to look at the cooler applications out there that we have completely forgotten the basics? I compare it to studying biology in high school before having physics and chemistry (which is the way it should be, but I have yet to see it done that way). It is obvious that the basics are not trickling up to the potential leaders of schools and districts. How then can we expect these potential leaders to grasp things like Web 2.0 and Moodle?

Simply, we cannot.

My remedies are for the program at Lewis University, as it is the only masters program I feel I can speak on fair terms.

1. Drop LiveText.

The reason for why LiveText were not clear. The reason given was an accreditation issue, but after using it and trying to understand the maddening interface (see the screencast here as I try to upload an assignment) I do not see how this technological terror addresses that concern. A better alternative would be to move the entire university over to the Moodle environment. It was created by a college professor for students. Education is its focus. Why simply address a portfolio issue when you can shoot the moon and create a vibrant learning environment at very little cost? (By the way, I submitted my assignment last Tuesday and still see no grade and no way to contact my professor!)

2. Create a Digital Literacy Course.

We have courses on staff development, ethics, the law, the principalship, finance, and yet no course on the most fluid and largest budget items in a school district... technology. In my district alone, we spend over $100,000 a year on laptops for approximately 75 students. I recently had a meeting with my Superintendent to show them a proposal to upgrade our WAN to fiber at a cost of $5200 a month (pre-eRate) and was very nearly shot down. So, we are willing to spend loads of money on equipment that is flashy, but let our WAN age and restrict the capabilities of our students. That is a huge disconnect.

In the same meeting, I showed a preview of the staff portal I have put together on our district Moodle server, and included a wiki I called "The Wiki Playground." When asked about it, I said I was simply playing around with it. The Superintendent became instantly irritated and started going on about the staff spending too much time off task at work, playing games, blogging, chatting... I was completely confused. I asked if is this not what she wanted? She said she liked almost everything, but a place to play games? I was more confused... where the heck did I put games on here? Well, after things got more uncomfortable, she thought the "Playground" was a place for games. She had no idea of the purpose or potential of a wiki. I had to calmly explain it to her, meanwhile losing more hair on my head.

Had there been some sort of digital literacy course when she was going through her doctorate and masters work, maybe this discussion could have been a lot shorter. I used to work with Dr. Francis Rink over in CCSD 180 (he has since retired) and he was someone who at least made an attempt to keep up on education technology issues (he was even the web master of the district and did a fine job). What I see and deal with now is very little self motivation to simply keep up on topics and terms.

These two changes would at least get the ship on the right course at Lewis University. I may think of other remedies, but it is late on a Saturday night, and I have Joomla books to read as I prepare to overhaul a few websites and empower staff to take control of their web domain!

Fun, fun, fun!

A child's view of the $100 laptop

2007-12-12T21:28:00.001-06:00

BBC NEWS | Technology | A child's view of the $100 laptop

The simplicity of a child speaks for itself...

Digital Literacy in Educational Leadership Programs

2007-12-12T12:14:00.000-06:00

I am 60% complete to getting my masters in education from Lewis University in educational leadership. What that means is I will, according to the accredited school that is Lewis, have the theoretical and working background to become a principal, dean, director, etc. In the state of Illinois, I will now be able to get a Type 75 license. Last night, I completed my course, The Principalship, for the fall semester. In that class, each of us were required to present a chapter from the book. What ensued was proof of what is lacking in this education leadership program.

Digital literacy at Lewis University in the Educational Leadership program is dismal.

The use of slide presentation software created mindless, disengaged, sage on the stage lessons. A seminar course (three weeks max) on digital literacy would be a worthwhile requirement for all students. Mandatory topics should include basic template web design, PowerPoint best practices, and blogging best practices (all of which could be addressed if the University employed Google Apps for Education or a universal Moodle environment for the entire university with access to an office suite ... not necessarily Microsoft Office). Secondary topics should include wikis and forum usage. Sage on the stage at this level of education does NOT bring out the best in a masters program.

HOW in this day and age poor presentation practices are rampant is a sad commentary on the digital preparation of teachers. What I have seen is the stuff is still the focus, not the enhancer to the content. What makes matters worse is these same teachers are providing little, none or completely incorrect guidance with regards to digital literacy. Here is an example of what I saw in my class. Though difficult to read, I am sure one can point out the major flaw in the presentation. The presenter also took it upon himself to read each slide completely through which summarized the same chapter we had all read in the previous nights.

I have ideas for how to correct this, but I want to put this out there and let this breath. The remedies will be posted shortly.

The BEAST That is LiveText

2007-12-11T18:40:00.001-06:00

As a student at Lewis University, I was required to purchase a subscription to LiveText. What is LiveText you ask? Think of Moodle's evil deformed twin brother. It is completely counter-intuitive. I am a technical guy. All I wanted to do was upload my final paper for review by my professor. What ensued was a process that left me wondering when I would ever get to the part where I could simply upload my paper.

Watch the screencast to see the virtual hoops I jumped to simply upload a file.

Why not use Moodle. Why use THIS?!

Man, Dvorak is Cranky, but is he right?

2007-12-04T14:42:00.001-06:00

One Laptop Per Child Doesn't Change the World - Columns by PC Magazine

John Dvorak certainly has me thinking. Is he right? He has been wrong before... I will update this later, but wanted to get this enlightening and balancing article out into the ether.

Give One Get One Extended to the End of the Year

2007-11-25T18:04:00.000-06:00

According to an AP article and confirmed on the OLPC website, the Give One Get One OLPC XO Program will be extended until the end of the year (December 31, 2007). How long before the program is extended indefinitely. It has to happen!

WSJ.com Article on OLPC XO

2007-11-25T00:02:00.001-06:00

If you have come late to the party, this article in the Wall Street Journal details the trials and tribulations of the OLPC XO. The article does all the talking, I cannot add much to it.

My only thought coming away from this article is wondering if we are closer to having the XO open to purchase around the world by single consumers. I know it goes against the mission of OLPC, but I cannot see another way this program can possibly succeed in the long term. When you have Intel and others lining up to go after profit over a systemic change in the world's education, usually profit wins, but children suffer. I hope the profiteers will offer teacher training on how to implement these laptops in the classroom in the way that is not merely a symbolic change.

Recent Thoughts on Moodle

2007-11-23T09:43:00.000-06:00

In my school district, we have been using Moodle in an effort to encourage writing across the curriculum and student collaboration, meaning we want students to work together, peer edit, do their pre-writing in a raw open forum where grammar isn't so much a concern, but ultimately pull their ideas together in a cohesive paper, no matter what the subject area.

Here are some early findings.

I was saddened when a student came to me the other day to ask me if they could message another student in the Moodle environment, and the shock that came over his face when I said "Yes."

"You really mean that Mr. O?"

"Yes, message away."

Unsure this student walked away perplexed. I did tell him that everything EVERYTHING was logged should their be a problem, but it was still like he didn't believe me. It was so sad.
Why have multiple periods when you can pull the brain power of several periods into one large online class? One of the teachers I am working with wondered this in one of our meetings and it was brilliant. You can group different classes together, but this was how she wanted to create things from the start. We are a small school district, so your cap on how many students a teacher feels is too much to manage might differ. We have only 80 students in any one grade, but this teacher feels this was manageable. Imagine honors and general ed students all in the same online course collaborating!
I am crafting how to get our more reluctant teachers to want to use Moodle. Too often, we as education technology folk preach to the choir. We read each other's blogs, and sometimes disagree, but how do we get teachers who ALWAYS disagree with technology initiatives to buy-in. Consider too that if we use Moodle, or any technology, only as a patch for something this reluctant teacher does now in their class room (a symbolic change), then ultimately, you have not changed anything. You have only slapped a high tech new coat of paint on the class. We need to use initiative like this to make a systemic change. And the only way to make this systemic change we HAVE to have the reluctant teachers on board. If they are not on board, we get no where as they pull against us.

Just some early morning, post turkey thoughts.

The Future of Reading: the Amazon Kindle

2007-11-20T20:10:00.001-06:00

The Future of Reading: the Amazon Kindle

I think I saw Richardson a little wide-eyed about this product, but it looks like an early indication this might go the way of the Zune. Niche and too restrictive. Man, it's like working in some schools. The Terms of Use is a fun read.

$399 for the Kindle, plus $9.99 for the titles. Yeah, those paperbacks are cumbersome. And I read one book at a time. Is the price overkill? I think so. I am a slow reader. Maybe my mother-in-law would find more use out of this. I won't even tell my father about this... Mr. "I Enjoy the Feel of a Hard Bound Book in My Hand."

Still, I would love to check it out.

Wait, does this not look oddly familiar to the OLPC XO with less functionality?

Update: You want the back and forth on this in a less rambling style? Read these two posts and see where you fall. I'm with Miguel and Stephen Downes on this one.

Miguel G.

Steve H.

One week left to Give One Get One

2007-11-20T13:29:00.000-06:00

There is just one week left to participate. For a donation of just $399 ($200 of which is tax-deductible), you will be giving the gift of education to a deserving child in the developing world, and also receiving an XO laptop in recognition of your donation. Once "Give One Get One" ends, the XO laptop will no longer be available to the general public.

T-Mobile is generously offering everyone who participates in "Give One Get One" one year of complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot broadband Internet service, available at more than 8,500 locations throughout the United States. This complimentary year of service is valued at over $350! Just use any Wi-Fi enabled device, such as the XO, your laptop computer, or a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone, and you can connect and communicate your way. Find out more at www.laptopgiving.org/en/t-mobile-hotspot.php.

To donate, or to find out more about the XO laptop, please visit www.laptopgiving.org. You can also donate by calling toll-free 1-877-70-LAPTOP (1-877-705-2786). We hope you'll join us in our mission to bring education and connection to children in even the most remote regions of the globe.

Thank you.

Negroponte on CNN talking about OLPC XO

2007-11-18T14:56:00.000-06:00

Found this video on CNN. It is an interview with Nicholas Negroponte about the XO. It is almost 7 minutes long, but he claims about halfway through the video (at 3:04 in) that in Rwanda where the XO has been deployed a child's first english word was Google. Disappointing with this video is the stock photos are of an old design and the stock video shows some of the old prototype models. Negroponte does show the production model of the XO.

Funny, at one point Negroponte alludes that it will be the children doing the staff development for the teachers.

But will this eliminate poverty, which is the stated goal by Negroponte?

Economic Boom Does Not Foster 21st Century Skills

2007-11-16T10:11:00.001-06:00

Reuters AlertNet - Riyadh is boom town as Saudis enjoy oil bonanza

The education system continues to produce citizens well-versed in religious tradition but lacking good English, incapable of competing in today's globalised job market. Major firms like Saudi Aramco reeducate graduate hires abroad.

The promise of an economic boom does not always lead to the needed changes in education or help to change the mindset of a people. This story indicates the recent boom in Saudi Arabia due to $100 a barrel oil fosters complacency and sloth. Compare Saudi Arabia with Uruguay, a recent recipient of the OLPC XO. Uruguay does not have $100 a barrel oil to provide an opportunity for its people to connect to the 21st century world. Radical changes are the things they can control will have to be done in order to come into the 21st century world, in this case education.

Of course, there are other things at play in Saudi Arabia that keep major change in mindset from happening, and to take a Western Civilization filter and examine Saudi Arabia only increases confusion. When the price of a barrel of oil collapses, and it will, where will an undereducated populace, like Saudi Arabia, where the disparity between rich and poor is great, be?

Update: Tremendous comment discussion between Tom Hoffman and I. Thanks Tom for the running comments.

Couple of IETC Reflections

2007-11-15T12:51:00.000-06:00

Here at the Illinois Education Technology Conference in Springfield, Illinois. Couple of thoughts and ideas as I go...

1. Why oh why is it that a technology conference would have terrible connectivity speeds? The ICE Conference at Pheasant Run was spectacular with the T3 pipe (45Mbps up and down). With AT&T being a top sponsor of this conference, I would like to think the opportunity was there for them to show off their abilities to deliver high speed connectivity.

2. I know that David Pogue has asked this question before, but I have to say it again. WHY would an expensive hotel, like the Crowne Plaza in Springfield charge a cost of Internet connectivity that has a complicated sign up and sign in process, but the Drury Inn next door has free WiFi?

3. Without naming names, some people need to retire from the speaking circuit. Thanks for letting us know we need to change. Let me get back to dealing with the real world out of your fantasy land.

4. Joomla, Moodle, I love them.

5. Tech-Geeks is probably one of the best support groups in Illinois for techies. IL CTO (is it a chapter yet of CoSN?) is also starting to make its presence known.

6. If you don't know Matt Fuller already, you will.

7. A friend of mine has the iPhone. I toyed with it. I love it.

Sorry for the lack of links. I am lazy today.

Give One Get One Starts Today!

2007-11-12T07:09:00.001-06:00

FROM THE OLPC!

From all of us at One Laptop per Child, thank you for your interest in our mission. Today marks the first day of our limited-time "Give One Get One" program. Starting today, when you donate an XO laptop to a child in the developing world, you'll receive one for the child in your life. The price for the two laptops will be $399, $200 of which is tax-deductible. Additionally, T-Mobile is offering donors one year of complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot locations throughout the United States, which can be used from any Wi-Fi-capable device, including the XO laptop.

Please visit www.laptopgiving.org to participate in Give One Get One and discover more about the revolutionary XO laptop. You can also donate by calling toll-free 1-877-70-LAPTOP (1-877-705-2786). This is the only time we're making the XO laptop available to the public and quantities are limited, so early purchasers have a better chance of receiving their XO laptops by the holidays.

Once again, thank you. We sincerely hope you'll join our growing community of people working to create a connected, educated, enlightened future for the world's most essential resource - it's children.

School laptop program begets writing gains

2007-11-10T01:49:00.000-06:00

In my own district, we noticed a great inconsistency with the ability to write across the curriculum. Meaning, students have great difficulty in translating their abilities to write out a thoughtful, coherent paper describing a math problem, for example. To tackle this problem, our district has piloted the use of Moodle as a way to promote online collaboration and peer editing of works. Though not our only reason to use Moodle, it is a major reason.

I found a recent article about a study done on the Maine's ed-tech initiative (AKA their 1:1 program). The study shows the greatest growth has taken place in the student ability to write for the standardized test. Promising, and yet I am going to take the time to read the actual study. One's ability to write for a standardized test, to me, does not necessarily translate a student is a better writer. However, the 20 percent jump in test scores may say otherwise. Again, a look at the study will hopefully answer my questions, or only raise more.

"Going Dark" on Twitter

2007-11-09T09:09:00.000-06:00

I have been actively using Twitter for about three weeks now. My initial thoughts were, this is great, I can now actively "chat" with a wide selection of colleagues and friends from around the world. Because of Twitter, I was able to catch Jeff Utecht's speech, on uStream, in Singapore to a group of school admins. Because of Twitter, I was able to participate in a geography lesson in Canada via Skype.

Because of Twitter, I think I have worsened ADD.

For some reason, over the past three weeks, I feel like my production had progressively declined. I feel like barbs I toss at friends were a signal that everyone could then pile-on that person. I feel like the more I was connected, the more I was disconnected from the world I work and in which I live.

So, for a time, I have decided not to Twitter, or Twitter in limited time. What I am giving up is the ability to instantaneous garner feedback on ideas, or participate in discussions. What I am gaining is a sense of focus. And to me, that is more important.

So, I ask you. Has Twitter, really made your life better knowing you are connected into a broad network that places the available resources of many at your fingertips, or has it just made your life that much more complex?

Update: I realize that by not participating in Twitter sort of defeats the purpose. By just using it when I need to use it goes against the communal aspects of Twitter. Then again, I have always tended more libertarian versus communist, so I guess this makes sense. Ron Paul in '08!

Uruguay places the first "official" order for OLPC XOs.

2007-11-06T20:48:00.000-06:00

Well, it looks like OLPC has its first buyer. Uruguay is reported to be making the first purchase of OLPC XOs. About 100,000 to be exact with plans to purchase 300,000 in 2009. No thoughts yet, but this is out there.

Additionally-->
The OLPC production started officially yesterday in China. Check the pic!

An Open Letter to Dr. Seymour Papert

2007-11-05T12:33:00.000-06:00

Dear Dr. Papert.

My name is James O'Hagan and I am an educator who focuses on technology for a school district outside of Chicago. I work with elementary school children, and am always fascinated watching children and technology interact. I also have a 4 year old and 18 month old daughters and again am fascinated with what they are capable of doing with a computer at such a young age. I am a child of the early 80s and the Apple IIe. I even used your LOGO program for hours on end.

I have been told over the past 9 years since I officially became an educator that

The World is Flat
I am a Digital Native (barely)
It is a Read-Write World

With that said, I was recently tipped to a video posted by Michael Wesch at Kansas State University, an assistant professor in cultural anthropology. In the video, Michael had his class collaborate via Google Docs to create the script and material for this video. The topic of the video was highlight the most important characteristics of students today. I think the video is very well produced, but the message seems to be provoking disagreement about how this video should be viewed.

In one camp, you have someone like David Warlick who sees the video as an excellent introduction for professional development. We have another camp who sees the video as a slam on teachers and education professionals as a whole, specifically Gary Stager invoked your name, thus the open letter.

I am curious about your ideas on the video. On the surface, I see this video as an excellent introduction to cultural anthropology. These students exhibited tremendous digital literacy skills to compile such a concise presentation with over 200 collaborators. The right brain tendencies in this left brain world are what makes this video so compelling. I did not see it as a slam on teachers, rather as a small cultural study that addresses the concerns of this particular group of students. Ultimately, the question not answered by David or Gary is what learning has taken place? As an introduction course to anthropology, to me, this is an appropriate use of technology to engage students in a way that had them attempting to think like an anthropologist.

What are your thoughts, Dr. Papert?

Thank you.

James O'Hagan

Response to "Internet, Democratization & Prosocial Change: I Could Really Use Your Help"

2007-11-01T10:20:00.000-05:00

I received a twitter asking for feedback to this blog post. Naturally being a Leo, I have to give my opinion.

The two questions ask were:

1) Is the Internet a democratizing agent?
2) How does/can technology be an tool for prosocial change?

Here are my responses, unedited. Am I thinking too far outside the box on this?

1. I look at the potential proliferation of technology into the third world, and I am beginning to wonder if we are ready for the third world and what it means when they step onto the world stage. The OLPC project is a philanthropic endeavor that has great intentions, but consider the population that will be serviced by this program is susceptible (especially in South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa) to the spread of radical Islam. Al Qaeda and like groups are doing a fantastic job going underground on the Internet. There are now potential madrases in villages throughout the third world (not just children, but whole families who could use the machines). These people already are suffering from a lack of education, making the messages of radical Islam that much more dangerous. So where there is potential for the spread of democratic ideals, there is an equal potential for the spread of radical ideals.

With that said, the situation in Burma could have been very different if families could use their technology to broadcast and blog the uprisings there. The Burmese government even shutdown their Internet trunks to stop the flow of information to the outside world. The OLPC project allows machines to automatically build mesh networks, which if machines were appropriately placed, could have continued to broadcast to the outside, and at least internally. Who knows? Today the junta that controls that country might not be in power today.

2. Again, with prosocial change, you look at the situation in Burma, but at the same time why are we not seeing the prosocial change in China? You look at the proliferation of cell phones and the Internet throughout China, and yet people are not rising up against an oppressive regime that destroys the environment, allows lax standards with regards to mining and factory production, and does not allow its citizenry to choose their own leaders. As a boy watching Tianamen Square on CNN, you would have thought the Chi-Com regime would have folded years ago. However, a recent report (and I cannot find the story now) shows that the people in China are, for the most part, happy despite their government. Why is that? The story stated there was happiness because of what was available to them in the ways of stuff (food, technology, cars, etc.) which were not available en masse 20 years ago.

So, in short, technology by itself does not promote prosocial change. In the case of China, it is hindering such change.

... if someone can find that story, I would appreciate it.

Great Student Post

2007-10-29T11:19:00.000-05:00

I think I know what this student is going through. I feel his pain. You should have seen the looks I got from my professor for my masters class last week when I took out my laptop. I was able to take notes, look up books he was referencing, twitter and im all the while keeping notes in my Google Docs.

1:1 and Moodle

2007-10-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally got the time to sit down and actually do a little student/staff development. Moodle is finally off the ground in this district, though small at this point. I have always been bothered by the way teachers use and view the laptops in this school district seeing the machines as nothing more than expensive spiral notebooks. I even had a discussion with the principal about how students want to use their machines and that we need to begin to rethink our policies to reflect the technology of the time.

Moodle, at this point, is being used as the medium to develop our reading response skills of the students. It is a narrow focus, but we are starting small. Our ISAT scores were in the high 80s in meets and exceeds, but our reading response scores were all over the place. Seems students cannot translate writing across the curriculum. They did create with responding to a prompt, but not reflection.

The goal of this pilot is to help students develop their response skills to a reading. Since they are a part of a 1:1, I figured what better way to start than to have them read David Pogue's article in the NYT about the OLPC XO. They then will post to a forum a one paragraph response. Tomorrow, we will make sure that the posts are up there and then we will begin commenting on the responses.

I did make it very clear to the students that even though they might not have Internet access with their laptops at home, or should their laptops completely conk out, they can use any Internet connected computer to post their responses.

Also, I set the time limit students can post to the forum, so they have until 8AM tomorrow to post.

Will report back and see how things went.

Ready to buy your XO?

2007-10-01T23:39:00.000-05:00

This is probably old news now, but I figured I would post this anyway...

The OLPC XO is finally ready for sale. Well, almost. It is being built now. But in November, you too can purchase an XO for you and a deserving child somewhere in the world. I wonder if you can use it as a tax write off. It will be the right time of year to do that if you need to.

XO Giving

Rant Part Deux and Thoughts on the Evolution of 1:1

2007-09-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

It isn't so much the Kool-Aid. I am more upset with my fellow, in-the-field-educators, who are dealing with the day to day struggles of a school, and lap up the lip service paid to us by people who are no more than consultants who live on the laurels of the past. I look around at those who are "spotlights," or "keynotes," and I think to myself, "Self, where is the credibility of this person? They only worked in a school for a few years, and now they have sold out and are peddling snake oil ideas that might have been useful 5 years ago, but are largely irrelevant today. OR, they left teaching after 20 something years, but have not actually been in a classroom with students in 10 years or more!"

I look at the work Dr. Margaret Johnson has done on Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants in Palos Heights School District 118 and I respect that work and take it as solid and real because SHE STILL WORKS IN PALOS HEIGHTS 118! She is living her dissertation, which by the way, should be a book unto itself. If you can meet her at IETC in November, do so!

David Jakes, another person who is an active eduspeaker, and is an active participant in Downers Grove 99!

To be honest, I have been asked to speak at a few events, but what do I say? Do what I would like to do, but I can't because reality doesn't let me do it?" That would intellectually dishonest. I am trying to get my district to understand that our 1:1 is dying on the vine because we are still trying to make these machines into a lab machine circa 1999. Only yesterday, I sat with a principal... one of our laptops sitting on the table, and I said to him, there has to be a change. We HAVE to examine how we are going to grow this program. We grew up using computers in a very static environment (boot disks, floppies, Apple IIEs), but kids today would see that scenario as worthless and a waste of time. Even now, we restrict the use of blogs, wikis, email, instant messaging, webcams... the things that make having a 1:1 start to meet the promise for the price. I even said at one point that in 5 years, TV shows will be a thing of the past and kids will virtually watch their programs on their portable computers or devices. Lo and behold, later that afternoon I saw that NBC is now going to provide their new fall shows free to download with embedded commercials.

Look, my goals right now for my job are skewed with what I would like to do intellectually. I have to handle eRate, SIS, NWEA data, imaging, repair, diagnostics, networking, servers, the tech plan... all the while I am trying to pilot the 8th grade honors writing class on how to use Moodle to help with the writing process. My thoughts are to expand the usage of Moodle to help with writing since our recent state scores showed deficiencies in our abilities to write across the curriculum.

I am starting to ramble. It is late. I was up at 4AM for the second straight day, and it is now 11:30PM. I leave for Disney in the morning for a week. Maybe I will have more of a clear head when I return. Less stressed. However, I will be keeping critical eyes on those "experts."

Warning, Warning: Rant coming....

2007-09-17T20:22:00.000-05:00

Wow, it is almost a month into the school year. Those of us in the trenches, those of us who actually still work in a school and are not gallivanting around the world looking at the world with rose colored glasses, are now starting to decide if what changes we made during the summer are actually worth the effort. I talked with a friend who teaches in a new BD (behavior disorder) school today. She was in tears. She talked about how they had 13 restraint incidences on Friday, and only have 12 students. This morning, 2 students were arrested on the way to school because a fight broke out on the bus. The superintendents response was less than supportive ("Let me get this right, you have a bus driver and a supervisor and you cannot control 9 kids?!").

So then I am reading some of the postings and musings over the past few days and some really started to get to me. Posts from people who are supposed to be the "experts," the ones we look to on issues with regards to technology and education and the promise of Web 2.0, we talking about the world they live in ... and I realize, they are not even on the same planet.

I love technology. I love education. What I don't like are the apostles out there who treat the word of some who have not set foot in the classroom, or even in a SCHOOL, as gold. These "educators," who cruise the eduspeaker circuit, and blog about the wonders of a North Dakota highway as they jump from spot to spot, like some damned Johnny Appleseed, write as if they have some answer, some silver bullet to solve all our problems. I am frustrated by the mounting lack of self reflection, instead sheeple-like replication of thoughts.

Those I look to for answers, I am questioning more and more. Where is the credibility? Just as fast as technology has changed, so have the students, and so have the teachers.

You want to talk battles being fought? Forget Web 2.0. Try dealing with the 30 and unders versus the 50 and overs (if you are in your 40s, choose your side). Try dealing with those that don't want that new laptop, and are perfectly happy doing the SOS. Try dealing with students wanting to take a swing at you. Parents who question why money is spent there. Admins who micromanage.

Technology is not a solution to all our problems. Don't even suggest it.

Rant over.

zen.

Why I Love FileWave

2007-08-22T07:53:00.001-05:00

I love FileWave.

I rolled it out a few weeks ago and tested with some staff. I was worried that software management software would kill the bandwidth in this district. Initially, I noticed spikes in traffic as the booster servers in each building were downloading copies of software packages, but since then it has been smooth as silk. Today, I found out even more why I love FileWave.

You may or may not be aware of the recent release of iLife 08, specifically iMovie 08. iMovie, simple as it is has possibly been made too simple. Apple worshipper, and Pope to the Church of Steve Jobs, has even panned iMovie 08. I have several staff members who use iMovie, but I am worried they might frown on the uber-simplicity of the program. SO, using FileWave, I have loaded iMovie 06 HD back onto the teacher machines without having to touch each machine. In fact, I added iMovie 06 to the list of software, and it has already completed installation on several machines.

Even better, this software helps with the management of Windows, Mac OS X and even Linux software deployment.

AND, the tech support has been phenominal. Because I have a very mobile staff, I couldn't tie a laptop to a single booster server, so I have setup a script, with the help of the support staff at FileWave, that checks the IP address of the wireless card, and then sets the Booster server accordingly. I am willing to share this script with other FileWave users, just comment back.

Whoa, first day of school. Bell just rung. Got to go!

Quick Kudos for iWork 08 Pages

2007-08-19T21:15:00.000-05:00

I decided to give the new Pages a rundown, and what better way than to create the documents I will hand out to staff during the first few days of school. I have been pleasantly surprised at the simple functionality of this program. iWork 06 Pages was more like Microsoft Publisher in that it was more for the fancy project, and though a user could create a simple document, to do so was a bit taxing. The new Pages has created a simpler interface that reminds me of AppleWorks 6, which is still the staple word processor for my school district, but has become a bit kludgey with the introduction of the Intel Macs. Even the newer Microsoft Office, with its many ribbons, has become somewhat unfamiliar and cumbersome.

So, thank you Apple for bringing back the simple functionality of a word processor not seen in years.

Faint Heart MacOSX Hacking

2007-08-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

One of the problems I have had with Mac OS X is the need for an admin to change a couple of things...

1. DVD Region Code

2. Certain System Preferences (i.e. Energy Saver, Data & Time, Print & Fax)

With regards to DVD Region Code, I understand why it is important for an admin password protecting the DVD region code. However, when I make my images, the region code is set on the hardware, not in the software. Knowing as well that each DVD drive may only have its region changed no more than 5 times (legally), I find this still to be a burden.

With regards to System Preferences, this was a bigger issue for me with a 1:1 since Energy Settings is a very personal thing. Difference users use their machines differently. Who am I to decide how a user should set their machine to run during the day (I'm the admin, I know...). Some users have no problems with setting their machines to dim after only 1 minute. For some users, that drives them CRAZY.

So, what did I do to get around this? I was digging around various forums when I came to small discussions about a file located at /etc/authorization. This file in Mac OS X can be hacked to allow non-admins to do certain tasks, such as install programs, set region codes, set system preferences, etc. You can set this by group or user. Since I have several groups running via LDAP, setting group to "staff" was not going to suffice here. Instead, I changed the code by editing "user" to "allow"

.... and ....

These changes freed up the user of the machine to make changes to these settings. Feeling comfortable with this I am (whoa, Yoda speak), but you may be saying to yourself "what the heck is he doing?" Hey, to each his own. If you can find me a more secure way to get around this problem, I welcome it. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but this is the best that I could come up with.

P.S. You still need to be admin or root to edit the /etc/authorization file... unless you change permissions, and I do NOT recommend doing that.

PocketMod

2007-08-16T21:32:00.001-05:00

As I prep for the year, I am keeping lists. PocketMod has been valuable. As much as people love PDAs, I don't carry one. I don't. Expensive, slow (compared to what I do), bulky. I have carried several models in the past, and yet can live without them. I even had a Treo 650 for a time and when I had to give that up, though sad, I have moved on.

PocketMod allows me to build a nice little notepad on a single sheet of paper. Lines, graphs, to-do lists... PocketMod lets you do that. Paper and pen is still the best tool for certain things. And if I lose it, oh well. Usually I can use these for a few days before I generate a new sheet and customize it for what I need.

Again, very easy to use, and very inexpensive (free minus wear and tear on the printer).

Reflections on 1:1 prep for this year.

2007-08-16T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well, the year is starting soon (school year for you people not in education). While prepping for the coming year, I have some reflections (you tend to do that when you have almost 300 laptops to image, as well as 125 desktops).

1. NetRestore. If you don't have it, get it. If you have trouble learning it, keep on it. I used to use Apple System Image Utility. Yeah, if you are slow on the uptake with Netrestore, sometimes it is the only way to go. Finally getting the logistics down on Netrestore sped up my imaging time... a lot. Before I could push out an image over AFP at a whopping 12Mb/s. Now, I am tossing out images as fast as my machine will pass them. I installed Raptor drives into my imaging server and am getting images with using multicast at 85Mb/s (according to the graphs on my xServe). Additionally, the naming script is well worth taking the time to build. I just used the school library barcode reader and scanned in all the laptop serial, mac and airport ID numbers into a database and exported that into a .csv file. When NetRestore finishes, the machine is automatically named. Sweet.

2. FileWave. Being a big Open Source guy, I am always hesitant to purchase software and services without checking out the OSS available that usually does the job. FileWave is just awesome. I am able to now build an image of basic Mac OS X, and then use FileWave to push out the appropriate software to specific machines or groups of machines. I can also now delete certain applications with the check of a box. I recently upgraded my beta laptop users versions of iWork and iLife without having to touch their machines physically. Highly highly highly recommend. License was very inexpensive for the time it has saved me.

3. Sharing services. On a Mac, you can turn on certain sharing services. The ones I turned on were SSH and Apple Remote Desktop. Even if you don't have a copy of ARD, you can download Chicken of the VNC and if ypur client has OS X.4, you can still view the screen of the user. SSH is always valuable even if you don't have command line skills (FileWave Client can be installed via SSH straight from the server).

4. Search out a Apple Technical Seminar (if your 1:1 is Apple-based). This summer I went to a fantastic seminar by Apple and received a fat book of tips, tricks and how-tos. A lot of server stuff was in there, as well as 1:1 lists. Either way, I always learning something from those guys (I have great engineers I work with at Apple -- Eric Wheetley and Dale Carlson!).

5. Saturate with Access Points. Obviously, dead spots in your network can cause problems. I just upgraded all building to the new draft-802.11n access points. The range on these devices is fantastic. Also, make sure you space out your channels on your access points. Don't set them to automatic channel switching.

6. Before handing out the laptops, pre-login the users. This makes sure everything works well. Nothing worse than someone who has to sit and wait and be a passive participant in a rollout. Also, beta test with certain people. The feedback is well worth it!

I am sure I will come up with more ideas soon... consider this Part I.

Street Cred

2007-08-09T23:51:00.000-05:00

I have not written much in quite a while. I have been working 7 days a week, between 8-14 hour days, getting my district infrastructure ready for the new year. 70 teacher Macbooks, ~270 student Macbooks and iBooks, 60 MacMinis, 125 iMacs, FileWave, xServes, Moodle, NWEA... it is all coming down to crunch time.

I had a great dinner tonight with many of the talented folks here in DuPage county. One of the topics I brought up was the credibility of many people on the speaking circuit in education, especially with regards to technology. My big point is what one was able to accomplish in the classroom two, three or more years ago may not be relevant in the near future, or even today. Many have totally left the classroom completely and claim that their ideas they are peddling are legit and credible and will transform your classroom. I am more of the practice what you preach and find some of these speakers (not all, but some) who present are in a dangerous position to lose some teachers because they no longer can truly relate to the teacher on a level with the times. I myself once a full time classroom teacher, find it sometimes difficult to relate to a current teacher's experiences because I have done very little teaching in a 1:1 environment. I know the equipment, I know the software, and SEE what a teacher does in their room, but have not experienced it on that REAL level.

Yet, there are many speakers I have listened to over the years who still rehash the same stories and experiences, but just slap a new terms onto old speeches. Some in particular I was critical of (who I will not name out of good taste) may not have much of a future in speaking if they do not get back into the classroom and really dig in to see if they still have an intellectually honest perception of technology in education that they are continuing to share. I am always wary of consultants because of just that. Yeah, they have been there, and yeah, there are many similarities, but there are also many differences. And with technology, those differences are exponentially magnified.

That is not to say there are some who carry a timeless message. But, even a genius like the now late, still great, Bill Walsh, on his second tour with Stanford was exposed with mediocre records. I prefer to block out that period. Lou Holtz even had a rough go at the end with South Carolina. Earl Weaver, Eddie Robinson, Gene Keady... all people who stayed on too long, or the game passed them by. Yes, great for a time, however. In education with everything else equal, I take the one working in the school building over the one merely consulting.

My those 22 hour days really run holes in your mind.

A Look at the One Laptop Per Child Computer - Faster Forward

2007-07-26T08:45:00.001-05:00

A Look at the One Laptop Per Child Computer - Faster Forward

This is a review out of the Washington Post of the XO versus the Classmate. This is more of a review of the XO with allusions to the Classmate. The comments though at the bottom of the review is a good read as well.

Those I Read

2007-06-27T13:23:00.000-05:00

From NECC 2007 are some of the more candid photos of those whose blogs I read (images taken from John Pederson's Flickr Account). How Will Richardson is missing... well, the week isn't over yet...

David Warlick

Karl Fisch

David Jakes

Pining for OS9 and Mac Manager

2007-06-20T16:24:00.001-05:00

So, I was working to setup a lab of MacMinis at the K-3 building in my district (I love the MacMini), and I realized a problem I was going to encounter when the new school year came around. It isn't software because I found replacements or upgrades to replace the OS9 versions of the software used.

The problem I am encountering is this...

In Macintosh Manager, the login screen creates a scrollable list of users that are easy to search. This is especially true for elementary students who sometimes have difficulty typing their name. In OSX, I have the choice of an icon to click, or the student has to type in their name. The problem with the icon is if I click "Other..." (meaning something other than a local account) the screen morphs into a login entry screen.

What am I supposed to do with the little kids?! I am going to the Apple Technology Seminar on Wednesday and Thursday next week in Minooka, so unless I can find an answer here, maybe they can provide insight.

Little Help? Anyone?

IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Protecting Against Online Predators

2007-06-20T12:06:00.000-05:00

WLS-890 AM in Chicago recently had Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on to talk about ways parents can protect their children against online predators. Even though some things seem obvious, there are always helpful tips in this arena. You can download the complete show here.

Pathway in Wikipedia

2007-06-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

While reading up on the Apple WWDC Design Awards I came across a phenomenal application that allows the user to create visual pathways between topics in Wikipedia. For example, I was able to tie together the San Francisco Giants and Jesus. I have the pathway to prove the connections. See the movie on how I did it!

The name of the application is Pathway. It is the runner-up application for best Student Product at WWDC 2007.

I can see how some may object to the content in Wikipedia and its inaccuracies. But for someone who has no idea where to start with a project, this could provide an excellent map to guide further research.

Blair on the media

2007-06-13T09:57:00.000-05:00

Tony Blair, the soon to be ex-PM of Great Britain, gave a recent speech about the state of media in the world. If you cut through the politics and instead focus on how he talks about how technology has changed the world of media, it gives you an excellent sense of the impact that Web 2.0 technologies are making. The link gives the full text of the speech, but below is the full text if you don't want to go to the BBC website. Is this the Churchill Iron Curtain speech with regards to the media and Web 2.0? Early to say. However, when world leaders are now publicly acknowledging the impact of Web 2.0 over "traditional" media, one tends to take notice.

You can also view a video portion of the speech here. I will try and find the full video.

The purpose of the series of speeches I have given over the past year has been deliberately reflective: to get beyond the immediate headlines on issues of the day and contemplate in a broader perspective, the effect of a changing world on the issues of the future.

This speech on the challenge of the changing nature of communication on politics and the media is from the same perspective.

I need to say some preliminaries at the outset. This is not my response to the latest whacking from bits of the media.

It is not a whinge about how unfair it all is. As I always say, it's an immense privilege to do this job and if the worst that happens is harsh media coverage, it's a small price to pay.

And anyway, like it or not, I have won three elections and am still standing as I leave office.

This speech is not a complaint. It is an argument. As a result of being at the top of the greasy pole for thirteen years, ten of them as Prime Minister, my life, my work as prime minister, and its interaction with the world of communication has given me pretty deep experience, for better or worse.

A free media is a vital part of a free society. You only need to look at where such a free media is absent to know this truth.

But it is also part of freedom to be able to comment on the media. It has a complete right to be free. I, like anyone else, have a complete right to speak.

My principal reflection is not about "blaming" anyone. It is that the relationship between politics, public life and the media is changing as a result of the changing context of communication in which we all operate; no-one is at fault - it is a fact; but it is my view that the effect of this change is seriously adverse to the way public life is conducted; and that we need, at the least, a proper and considered debate about how we manage the future, in which it is in all our interests that the public is properly and accurately informed.

They are the priority and they are not well served by the current state of affairs. In the analysis I am about to make, I first acknowledge my own complicity.

We paid inordinate attention in the early days of New Labour to courting, assuaging, and persuading the media. In our own defence, after 18 years of Opposition and the, at times, ferocious hostility of parts of the media, it was hard to see any alternative.

But such an attitude ran the risk of fuelling the trends in communications that I am about to question. It is also hard for the public to know the facts, even when subject to the most minute scrutiny, if those facts arise out of issues of profound controversy, as the Hutton Inquiry showed.

I would only point out that the Hutton Inquiry (along with 3 other inquiries) was a six month investigation in which I as Prime Minister and other senior Ministers and officials faced unprecedented public questioning and scrutiny.

The verdict was disparaged because it was not the one the critics wanted. But it was an example of being held to account, not avoiding it. But leave that to one side.

And incidentally in none of this, do I ignore the fact that this relationship has always been fraught. From Stanley Baldwin's statement about "power without responsibility being the prerogative of the harlot through the ages" back to the often extraordinarily brutal treatment meted out to Gladstone and Disraeli through to Harold Wilson's complaints of the 60s, the relations between politics and the media are and are by necessity, difficult. It's as it should be.

The question is: is it qualitatively and quantitively different today? I think yes. So that's my starting point.

Why? Because the objective circumstances in which the world of communications operate today are radically altered. The media world - like everything else - is becoming more fragmented, more diverse and transformed by technology.

The main BBC and ITN bulletins used to have audiences of 8, even 10 million. Today the average is half that. At the same time, there are rolling 24 hour news programmes that cover events as they unfold. In 1982, there were 3 TV stations broadcasting in the UK.

Today there are hundreds. In 1995 225 TV shows had audiences of over 15 million. Today it is almost none. Newspapers fight for a share of a shrinking market. Many are now read online, not the next day.

Internet advertising has overtaken newspaper ads. There are roughly 70 million blogs in existence, with around 120,000 being created every day. In particular, younger people will, less and less, get their news from traditional outlets.

But, in addition, the forms of communication are merging and interchanging. The BBC website is crucial to the modern BBC. Papers have Podcasts and written material on the web. News is becoming increasingly a free good, provided online without charge. Realistically, these trends won't do anything other than intensify. These changes are obvious. But less obvious is their effect.

The news schedule is now 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It moves in real time. Papers don't give you up to date news. That's already out there.

They have to break stories, try to lead the schedules. Or they give a commentary. And it all happens with outstanding speed. When I fought the 1997 election - just ten years ago - we took an issue a day. In 2005, we had to have one for the morning, another for the afternoon and by the evening the agenda had already moved on. You have to respond to stories also in real time.

Frequently the problem is as much assembling the facts as giving them. Make a mistake and you quickly transfer from drama into crisis. In the 1960s the government would sometimes, on a serious issue, have a Cabinet lasting two days.

It would be laughable to think you could do that now without the heavens falling in before lunch on the first day. Things harden within minutes. I mean you can't let speculation stay out there for longer than an instant.

I am going to say something that few people in public life will say, but most know is absolutely true: a vast aspect of our jobs today - outside of the really major decisions, as big as anything else - is coping with the media, its sheer scale, weight and constant hyperactivity.

At points, it literally overwhelms. Talk to senior people in virtually any walk of life today - business, military, public services, sport, even charities and voluntary organisations and they will tell you the same. People don't speak about it because, in the main, they are afraid to.

But it is true, nonetheless, and those who have been around long enough, will also say it has changed significantly in the past years. The danger is, however, that we then commit the same mistake as the media do with us: it's the fault of bad people.

My point is: it is not the people who have changed; it is the context within which they work. We devote reams of space to debating why there is so much cynicism about politics and public life. In this, the politicians are obliged to go into self flagellation, admitting it is all our fault.

Actually not to have a proper press operation nowadays is like asking a batsman to face bodyline bowling without pads or headgear.

And, believe it or not, most politicians come into public life with a desire to serve and by and large, try to do the right thing not the wrong thing.

My view is that the real reason for the cynicism is precisely the way politics and the media today interact. We, in the world of politics, because we are worried about saying this, play along with the notion it is all our fault.

So I introduced: first, lobby briefings on the record; then published the minutes; then gave monthly press conferences; then Freedom of Information; then became the first Prime Minister to go to the Select Committee's Chairman's session; and so on. None of it to any avail, not because these things aren't right, but because they don't deal with the central issue: how politics is reported.

There is now, again, a debate about why Parliament is not considered more important and as ever, the Government is held to blame. But we haven't altered any of the lines of accountability between Parliament and the Executive.

What has changed is the way Parliament is reported or rather not reported. Tell me how many maiden speeches are listened to; how many excellent second reading speeches or committee speeches are covered. Except when they generate major controversy, they aren't.

If you are a backbench MP today, you learn to give a press release first and a good Parliamentary speech second. My case, however is: there's no point either in blaming the media. We are both handling the changing nature of communication.

The sooner we recognise this, the better because we can then debate a sensible way forward. The reality is that as a result of the changing context in which 21st Century communications operates, the media are facing a hugely more intense form of competition than anything they have ever experienced before.

They are not the masters of this change but its victims. The result is a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by "impact". Impact is what matters. It is all that can distinguish, can rise above the clamour, can get noticed.

Impact gives competitive edge. Of course the accuracy of a story counts. But it is secondary to impact. It is this necessary devotion to impact that is unravelling standards, driving them down, making the diversity of the media not the strength it should be but an impulsion towards sensation above all else.

Broadsheets today face the same pressures as tabloids; broadcasters increasingly the same pressures as broadsheets.

The audience needs to be arrested, held and their emotions engaged. Something that is interesting is less powerful than something that makes you angry or shocked. The consequences of this are acute. First, scandal or controversy beats ordinary reporting hands down.

News is rarely news unless it generates heat as much as or more than light. Second, attacking motive is far more potent than attacking judgement. It is not enough for someone to make an error. It has to be venal. Conspiratorial.

Watergate was a great piece of journalism but there is a PhD thesis all on its own to examine the consequences for journalism of standing one conspiracy up. What creates cynicism is not mistakes; it is allegations of misconduct.

But misconduct is what has impact. Third, the fear of missing out means today's media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack. In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no-one dares miss out. Fourth, rather than just report news, even if sensational or controversial, the new technique is commentary on the news being as, if not more important than the news itself.

So - for example - there will often be as much interpretation of what a politician is saying as there is coverage of them actually saying it. In the interpretation, what matters is not what they mean; but what they could be taken to mean.

This leads to the incredibly frustrating pastime of expending a large amount of energy rebutting claims about the significance of things said, that bears little or no relation to what was intended.

In turn, this leads to a fifth point: the confusion of news and commentary. Comment is a perfectly respectable part of journalism. But it is supposed to be separate. Opinion and fact should be clearly divisible. The truth is a large part of the media today not merely elides the two but does so now as a matter of course.

In other words, this is not exceptional. It is routine. The metaphor for this genre of modern journalism is the Independent newspaper. Let me state at the outset it is a well-edited lively paper and is absolutely entitled to print what it wants, how it wants, on the Middle East or anything else.

But it was started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views not news. That was why it was called the Independent. Today it is avowedly a viewspaper not merely a newspaper. The final consequence of all of this is that it is rare today to find balance in the media.

Things, people, issues, stories, are all black and white. Life's usual grey is almost entirely absent.

"Some good, some bad"; "some things going right, some going wrong": these are concepts alien to today's reporting. It's a triumph or a disaster. A problem is "a crisis".

A setback is a policy "in tatters". A criticism, "a savage attack" NGOs and pundits know that unless they are prepared to go over the top, they shouldn't venture out at all.

Talk to any public service leader - especially in the NHS or the field of law and order - and they will tell you not that they mind the criticism, but they become totally demoralised by the completely unbalanced nature of it.

It is becoming worse? Again, I would say, yes. In my 10 years, I've noticed all these elements evolve with ever greater momentum. It used to be thought - and I include myself in this - that help was on the horizon.

New forms of communication would provide new outlets to by-pass the increasingly shrill tenor of the traditional media.

In fact, the new forms can be even more pernicious, less balanced, more intent on the latest conspiracy theory multiplied by five. But here is also the opportunity.

At present, we are all being dragged down by the way media and public life interact. Trust in journalists is not much above that in politicians. There is a market in providing serious, balanced news. There is a desire for impartiality.

The way that people get their news may be changing; but the thirst for the news being real news is not. The media will fear any retreat from impact will mean diminishing sales. But the opposite is the case.

They need to re-assert their own selling point: the distinction between news and comment. And there is inevitably change on its way. The regulatory framework at some point will need revision. The PCC is for traditional newspaper publishing.

OFCOM regulate broadcasting, except for the BBC, which largely has its own system of regulation. But under the new European regulations all television streamed over the internet may be covered by OFCOM.

As the technology blurs the distinction between papers and television, it becomes increasingly irrational to have different systems of accountability based on technology that no longer can be differentiated in the old way.

How this is done is an open question and, of course, the distinction between balance required of broadcasters but not of papers remains valid. But at some point the system is going to change and the importance of accuracy will not diminish, whilst the freedom to comment remains.

It is sometimes said that the media is accountable daily through the choice of readers and viewers. That is true up to a point. But the reality is that the viewers or readers have no objective yardstick to measure what they are being told. In every other walk of life in our society that exercises power, there are external forms of accountability, not least through the media itself.

So it is true politicians are accountable through the ballot box every few years. But they are also profoundly accountable, daily, through the media, which is why a free press is so important.

I am not in a position to determine this one way or another. But a way needs to be found. I do believe this relationship between public life and media is now damaged in a manner that requires repair. The damage saps the country's confidence and self-belief; it undermines its assessment of itself, its institutions; and above all, it reduces our capacity to take the right decisions, in the right spirit for our future.

I've made this speech after much hesitation. I know it will be rubbished in certain quarters. But I also know this has needed to be said.

Buy My Stuff

2007-06-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

Thanks to David Jakes for giving me the idea to open a store at Cafe Press. You can get to my store by following this link, or by typing in:

http://www.cafepress.com/1laptop1student

BWG=Box-and-Wires Guy

ASUS enters the low cost laptop fray

2007-06-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

According to this article it looks as if ASUS is making a serious bid to enter the low-cost laptop market. This laptop is set to sell to the general market for $189. Though some may tout this as a serious bid to detract the OLPC, I don't see it quite yet. ASUS is selling this machine purely from a technical BWG (Box-and-Wires Guy) standpoint. The price is right, but where is the support for education? How would this machine hold up in the jungles of Burma or wherever? To focus too much on the technology and not how it can be properly deployed is going to be a downfall to anyone who rushes out and buys a bunch of these machines for a school. I still contend the OLPC XO is still the best machine for educational 1:1 in the low cost category. With their focus being education and developing for education and supporting education that leads me to go with the XO if I had a choice. I am still waiting for the XO to become available via ebay as once rumored so I may purchase one. Then I can really put my money where my mouth is.

OLPC Keynote NECC 2006

2007-06-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

I don't think you can get this audio from NECC, but here is the audio keynote address by Nick Negroponte in 2006. It is nice to reflect back on just what the vision is for the program and the passion he exudes for this project. I don't think I would get this same feeling from HP with regards to their Classmate line of products.

Mass Burning DVDs in MacOSX

2007-06-04T15:09:00.000-05:00

I was recently tasked with burning an enormous amount of DVDs for various classes. I realized that doing this by hand, even with a lab of 25 machines, would take some time. What I decided to do was find a way to utilize disk images, Apple Remote Desktop and a little Unix command line to streamline the process. I was happy to find that in following these steps, I didn't even have to login to the machines to complete a mass burning.

The first set up steps would be good to use if you already have the DVD burned and you want to make copies. The second set of instructions shows how to create a disc image in iMovie via iDVD that cuts out the need to make a first DVD and then a disk image.

Burning without logging in or using GUI

Create a disk image (.dmg) with Disk Utility.
Push that disk image out to the lab computers via Apple Remote Desktop. (I sent my files to /Users/admin/Desktop)
In Apple Remote Desktop, send a UNIX command as root to machines that are going to burn the disks:
hdiutil burn "/location/of/diskimage" -noverifyburn
(leave off -noverifyburn if you want the disk verified)
Once complete, the disk will eject itself.
You can repeat the command if you need to create another set of disk. If you are finished with burning, you can move the file to the trash the file by issuing the following command as user "root."
rm -r "/location/of/diskimage"
Using Remote Desktop, empty the trash to delete the file.

Burning multiple iMovies

Complete the iMovie.
Empty the iMovie trash.
Select "Share" and then "iDVD."
Render the movie before sending to iDVD.
Rather than burn a DVD, when you have your menu settings complete, select "File" and then "Save a Disc Image..."
The file will save a an .img file. Note the subtle difference between a .dmg and .img.
Starting with Step #2 in "Burning without logging in or using GUI" complete those steps to mass burn a DVD. HOWEVER, I would complete one burn before doing them en masse.

The lab sounds like a tree of humming cicadas as 25 DVDs burn.

Hello Kyzyl, Tuva!

2007-06-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

Just sending hello to my buddy Squirk who lives in Kyzyl, Tuva. Where is that you ask? It is in the center of Asia. Don't have any hits yet from the former USSR or its independent republics...

Response to T&L Post by Jakes

2007-05-31T15:56:00.000-05:00

This is in response to Dave Jakes's post on techlearning.com

You have forgotten the forgettable BWG or Box-and-Wires Guy in the district, who in some places holds more sway with regards to technology than the teachers. I left a district because of a BWG. A BWG can literally hijack technology in a school to fit his or her vision of what works. Usually the BWG comes from the commercial world, which has a whole set of priorities that differ from a school. Follow this series of posts in a discussion I was involved with regards to platform (Mac v. Windows).

Me: "Does Web 2.0 really make the platform all that important. Yeah, there are apps out there that are specific to both, but come on... if it isn't web based now, it will be..."

Responder 1: "We don't budget for future technologies, we budget for technologies that exist now."

Me: "Web 2.0 isn't now? Google Apps for Education isn't now?"

Responder 1: "Sure is...however, to form an infrastructure around Web 2.0 and jump on that bandwagon isn't what business would dictate, would it? "

Responder 2: "I would personally like to see some labs move to more online resources. However, with like anything else, most schools have a very limited bandwidth pipe compared to my house. Adding this to what you have already will most likely result in a failed project. There is a lot more bandwidth inside my district than to the internet."

Responder 3: "Another problem with the move to online resources is that very few work with existing network authentication schemes meaning students need even more user accounts/passwords."

Responder 4: "Also, if they are free there is advertisement. There could be something that someone won't agree with. There are many reasons why it could be a potential issue."

Me: "What infrastructure? It's there. The machines... the web... the intranetwork. Discussed at the recent CoSN meeting were open source solutions that speak right to Web 2.0. Moodle is even moving toward web 2.0 technologies, with already embedded wiki and blog features in a sandbox environment that ties into most authentication protocols already in place (not sure about Novell, but LDAP for sure).

So, with this discussion about what OS, I have noticed an almost lack of consideration for how this talk of OS impacts learning. The boxes and wires really mean a whole hill of nothing if there isn't the vision and purpose and reason behind it.

So, I think the question presented maybe should, at this point of the thread be re-evaluated... does one OS do better in helping get students to the ultimate goal which is learning. It was said earlier that students will figure out the OS in little time and that is true. Does MS do anything different that better helps facilitate learning? Having worked in both an MS and Apple environment the answer is simply, no. What does make the difference is how well the little man behind the curtain is at providing an environment that just works.

And as for Web 2.0 being something that is a "bandwagon" technology ...well, read Will Richardson."

Responder 4: "I like your world James, but the rest of us live in the real world where most of this is dictated by politics. There is way too much invested in certain programs in a platform where throwing it all away for what is mostly inferior technology isn't much of a reality for anyone. I believe we should be looking at more web applications for learning, there is are great resources available via flash and AJAX, but the fact is you have to look at a lot of legacy crap from 97 still running on a lot of machines that someone will be furious doesn't work.

On top of that, as mentioned as with any technology you are deploying, you will need to inspect your infastructure to make sure it supports it, and having all your services visiting the web to pull down their data is going to tie your lines in half. Also, since we are talking schools, most will be going down the path with the least $$$ and that most likely will also have ads and remotely hosted servers."

Me: "I do live in the legacy world and believe me when I say there are politics all over the place in my district (we have a 1:1 supported with local funds, but when i talk of moving from a T1 to Fiber, or upgrade the wireless network from 802.11b to all 802.11g I can see the panic). Half of our machines are still running OS9 and we have many of the beige PowerPCs running in the district. As we move to OSX across the district I have been very blunt with teachers and staff that not all OS9 software is coming along for the transition, but I up front and honest about from the get go. So to cast aspersions solely at me, that I do not live it the "real world" is really counterproductive to the discussion and I do take that personally. I would invite, and have always had an open door, for anyone to come take a tour behind the scenes of my district. I did it at Burr Ridge, and I do it now in Palos.

I am not suggesting throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What I am suggesting is providing a vision, independent of the platform, that leads to a better learning experience through technology. If there are technologies out there at will do that, and the technologies are a fit financially and within the goals and vision of the tech plan in the district (realizing some take the plan more serious than others) and those technologies can be implemented with the staffing resources to support them, then how can you not position yourself to move in that direction?"

Responder 1: "The relevancy of Web 2.0 really isn't at question here. Nor do I believe Web 2.0 to be an answer to Bob's question. He was asking for data to present to admins and the board to justify either Mac or PC. Perhaps though, if Bob's Crazy enough, he can reveal the District Wide Web 2.0 implementation to his teachers, staff, administration, and board for approval."

Responder 3: "I think the Web 2.0 issue IS relevant to Bob's question because as others have pointed out, it is, like it or not, part of the future of the Internet. The point made with the Web 2.0 issue is that it, for the most part, is platform independent. With that said, as more content and instructional support tools move toward what is loosely defined as Web 2.0, the hardware platform, in terms of instruction, becomes far less relevant. With that said, the OTHER issues mentioned - largely political and budgetary - will tend to be a stronger driving force than the educational benefit."

Ungh... see what I mean?

Using Second Life to Create Engagement and Community in Online Learning

2007-05-30T09:02:00.000-05:00

Note: The webcast in its entirety will be posted to iTunes. Search "MacLearning" in the iTunes music store and the webcast should be up later today or tomorrow.

I ran across this message today while randomly going through my bookmarks today. I will be participating.

Here is the message given that the site may change later...

Using Second Life to Create Engagement and Community in Online Learning [learn and interact]* Next MacLearning Webcast May 30, 10am PST Presenter: • Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins, PhD Candidate, Ball State University, Director of Emerging Technologies, MediaSauce.com Go to the following web page 5-10 minutes prior to the webcast start time: http://webcast.training.apple.com/ Enter the webcast ID and passcode: Webcast ID: MacLearning Passcode: 250333 Enter your name, location, and email address. Entering this information helps personalize the webcast experience, and allows presenters and experts to contact you via email, to follow up on your questions. Entering this information is optional. Click the Login button, and you will see the webcast stream on the next page. You can chat in questions in the text field at the bottom of the page. Your questions may be answered by the presenters in the studio during the webcast. Please note: Presenters and webcast production staff are not able to chat back to you.

Cicada Movie

2007-05-29T08:36:00.000-05:00

I know Jakes will appreciate this movie, being a biology teacher and all...

One of the science teachers brought this movie to my attention. And since it is the season for the 17 year Cicada, it is appropriate to bring light to this great film. The only major issue with the film is the music is by Enya, and it doesn't look like there is a copyright to use that music. Other than that, seems these biology students at IU really have done a fantastic job. Something other students can aspire to do.

http://www.bio.indiana.edu/~hangarterlab/broodx/broodxmovies/NSFmovie.htm

Cyberwar I

2007-05-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

Wow, the first cyberwar. Russia denies involvement. Most upsetting to me in this article is that the United States is only now starting a cyberware effort. Kind of reminds me of Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson (brilliantly played by George C. Scott) in Dr. Strangelove complaining about a "mine shaft gap" with the Russians. Of course, Russia currently has a president who is all about information, information technology and how to use it. Vladamir Putin is the former head of the KGB. You have to wonder what secrets he knows about the world and its leaders.

XOs to Uruguay and Gaming

2007-05-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

Following up the Nigera rollout, the OLPC XOs have now been rolled out to Villa Cardal, Uruguay's 160 students. The story tells of a remote dairy region's first experience with the XO. Never thought of the tilda as being a problem. I only thought computers were anti-Irish with their disdain for those of us with apostrophes.

In addition, the OLPC is holding a three-day session to develop games with the XO, according to this article. The XO is Python heavy, so get coding!

OT: Star Wars Mashups

2007-05-27T19:22:00.000-05:00

I am a Star Wars geek. Now I see on Star Wars website they will allow you access to 200 movie clips and space to upload your videos and create your own Star Wars mashups. This looks fun (though doesn't support Safari yet!)

http://mashup.starwars.com/

Voices from the New American Schoolhouse

2007-05-27T16:58:00.000-05:00

Hmm, no mention of technology, but isn't this what we have been promised with technology in the classroom, more importantly to me 1:1? Most interesting to me is the girl who talks about the social aspects of teenagers. I wanted to scream out for iChat available on the laptops, as well as making the webcams built into the Macbooks functional!

What is obvious is learning is the focus. The vision is the focus. The stuff is all peripheral as it should be.

Find out more at newamericanschoolhouse.com. The site looks like it hasn't been updated since November so I will try to dig up more on this interesting topic. If someone out there has more info, please share!

Not Going "Whole Hog" for Google Apps for Education

2007-05-26T21:55:00.000-05:00

I am very possessive of my network. I am very possessive of my servers. Let me state that from the start.

So, the idea of outsourcing services in my district makes me uneasy at times. When I heard about Google Apps for Education at IMSA a few weeks back, and then it came in as the #1 PC World 100 Best Products of 2007, I decided to check it out.

After verifying that I do, in fact, run the district domain by uploading a simple html file to the web server (in lieu of changing the CNAME in our DNS) I found I had the ability to now use several services in Google Apps for Education.

Or at least I thought I did.

Most of the services are still not quite ready for primetime with regards to Safari, which is the staple browser of my school district. Bummer, though Firefox seems fully supported (and is my preferred browser).

I was happy that I could selectively shutoff services I would not need immediately. Again, not wanting to go whole hog and transfer over email, chat, web hosting, etc. I decided to start with a service that we do not have in the district and that I can rollout easily over time. I decided to start small with Google Calendar. I also decided against going ahead with the DNS name change for the time being while beta testing this service. It isn't that it is difficult or anything, but I want to make sure that I am not opening myself to security issues.

The Calendar is a good way to go. It integrates into iCal, it is something that we are always seemingly struggling with in the district, and hopefully over the summer I can convince the secretaries and principals to use the service.

Man, do I have a lot of hope...

Trying out Flixn

2007-05-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

Maybe this could be the "bandwidth crusher," who knows? Anyway, Will Richardson posted this link to Flixn.com on his blog, so I thought I would try it out. Flixn allows the user to records movies directly to their site using a webcam. No need to upload those pesky video files. Here is my lame attempt...

Great Hands-On Post on the OLPC XO

2007-05-22T16:28:00.000-05:00

http://digitalcrusader.ca/archives/2007/05/review_of_the_o.html

This is a GREAT hands-on review of the XO that gives some really good photos to boot. Enjoy!

XO vs. Classmate PC

2007-05-21T21:32:00.001-05:00

I was recently hipped to the Classmate PC, which is a part of the Intel Corporation World Ahead Program to bring an inexpensive laptops and technology into the "third world." Having followed the OLPC project for some time, and the development of the XO, I am interested in this twist on the project. Nick Negroponte is no fan of the Intel attempt, seeing it as a threat to kill his non-profit program. Since his project requires selling large quantities of machines in order to be viable, then there is a possibility that the program could have trouble getting to the $100 threshold.

However, could it be possible that a little healthy capitalism and competition will result in unseen benefits? Monopolistic practices have always not been best for the consumer, but I welcome this healthy competition. Negroponte may not have the vast wealth of an Intel, but his ideals and motivation may be enough to counterbalance this shortfall. Nevermind that Negroponte also has the backing of the UN and connections throughout the world through business, as well as potentially the contacts of his brother John. In case you missed it, John was the ambassador to Iraq and Honduras, as well as the UN.

I am pulling for Nick and the OLPC, and I welcome the healthy competition. This competition should hopefully benefit kids all around the world. However, if dumping tactics by Intel cause the death of this program, and Intel looses interest in the Classmate PC, there will be hell to pay.

Cobb County 1:1 Revisited

2007-05-21T20:17:00.001-05:00

Cobb grand jury in laptop case were complete pros | ajc.com

While doing some random searching, I thought I would see if any new news had come with with regards to the attempted 1:1 rollout in Cobb County, GA. The plan was bold and forward thinking, but at the same time, strong armed tactics did not play well in the community. And giving the entire program over to Apple without so much of a true bid process also did not play well.

The result? Supt. Joe Redden and Asst Supt. Donald Beers lost their jobs. I emailed Dr. Beers a few questions about the program back in February 2005. I am glad to see there will be no criminal charges filed as a result of this entire debacle. I guess there are lessons to be learned here as well while trying to put through just about any program or major. It pays to be completely honest and upfront with the public. No use in hiding those dollars.

TURN OFF THE WIFI! The classroom 'cancer risk' of wi-fi internet

2007-05-21T20:03:00.001-05:00

The classroom 'cancer risk' of wi-fi internet | News | This is London

Great. Cannot wait to get the questions on this. Parents who read the headline will not read the rest of the story. Look at the paragraph third from the bottom. I am sure very few will read this...

He said wi-fi radiation was about 100,000 times less intense than that emitted by domestic microwave ovens.

Boy, nothing will put a crip in a 1:1 program like a total lack of WiFi. Next they will want Palos Heights to take down the cell towers directly behind the school.

Am I Yelling Into the Closet?

2007-05-21T10:06:00.000-05:00

Recently I got into a debate (same as the one I ran into where I posted "Is Web 2.0 a Fad?") and it has become painfully apparent to me that there are many districts out there at the mercy of "Box and Wires" guys. How would I define a "Box and Wires" Guy? What constitutes a "Box and Wires" Guy? I used to work under a BWG. I left a district (Homewood 153) because of a BWG. A BWG has their place in a school district, but they also need to know their place.

Simply, a BWG is a person who works in a school district, without a degree in education, who assists in implementing technology to support the staff better facilitate learning.

NEVER should a BWG be allowed to be the Director of Technology for a school district.

NEVER should a BWG dictate changes in educational policy with regards to technology.

NEVER should the wants of a BWG supplant the educational goals of the staff to support learning.

NEVER should the personal preferences of a BWG with regards to operating system be allowed to dictate a district unless a BWG can demonstrate that a certain OS can help staff better facilitate learning.

A BWG can have a voice, but within reason. For a BWG to pull a Napoleon Act and make changes and choices that benefit them, but do not take into account the vision and goals of a district with regards to learning is pure insanity.

If I have to hear the "which OS is better - Microsoft or Apple" again, it will be too soon. That debate at this point is really losing any sort of relevance to learning. And to sit and listen to BWGs debate that topic shows me a disconnect from reality.

Is Web 2.0 A Fad?

2007-05-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

In one of the more interesting discussions on the Tech-Geeks listserv, as seemingly simple question was posed today in the thread of Mac Vs. Windows:

I know there are districts out there that have switch one way or the other. But, I have never seen a 'good' report on why. Does anybody have one...either way?

As the thread grew through the day there were a lot of interesting give and takes. Lots of concerns about a mixed environment... services that can and cannot be provided... etc. Then I tossed this little nugget out there:

Does Web 2.0 really make the platform all that important? Yeah, there are apps out there that are specific to both, but come on... if it isn't web based now, it will be...

I was a lot surprised at some of the responses I received from that. A couple that raised my eyebrow were:

We don't budget for future technologies, we budget for technologies that exist now.

and

...however, to form an infrastructure around Web 2.0 and jump on that bandwagon isn't what business would dictate, would it?

Is Web 2.0 a fad? I do not see how. Have I lost my educational... technological mind? Was this EVER the same argument that went down when the first personal computer was placed in a school... or when the first web browser was installed on a computer...

Here was my lengthy reflection on those comments that jumped at me:

What infrastructure? It's there. The machines... the web... the intranetwork. Discussed at the recent CoSN meeting were open source solutions that speak right to Web 2.0. Moodle is even moving toward web 2.0 technologies, with already imbedded wiki and blog features in a sandbox environment that ties into most authentication protocols already in place (not sure about Novell, but LDAP for sure).

So, with this discussion about what OS, I have noticed an almost lack of consideration for how this talk of OS impacts learning. The boxes and wires really mean a whole hill of nothing if there isn't the vision and purpose and reason behind it.

So, I think the question presented maybe should, at this point of the thread be re-evaluated... does one OS do better in helping get students to the ultimate goal which is learning. It was said earlier that students will figure out the OS in little time and that is true. Does MS do anything different that better helps facilitate learning? Having worked in both an MS and Apple environment the answer is simply, no. What does make the difference is how well the little man behind the curtain is at providing an environment that just works.

And as for Web 2.0 being something that is a "bandwagon" technology ... well, read Will Richardson.

I will sit back and hopefully get the feedback that will lead me in the right direction here. Maybe I am crazy. I will just go back to the bullseye that helps direct the technology decisions I make for my district.

Philanthropic Open Source Software

2007-05-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I attended a CoSN meeting at the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA) in Aurora, Illinois. It is a fantastic school where some of the brightest minds in all of Illinois live in a small college-esque environment away from their families in pursuit of higher education.

The topic of the CoSN meeting was Open Source Software, which is something that when you are involved in 1:1 computing certainly weighs on those machine images I make. We have a few open source software solutions installed on our machines, most significantly being NeoOffice. I am trying to bring Moodle to the district, and have heard nothing but wonderful accounts on those who have been able to implement the software.

Now Open Source Software, by itself is philanthropic. But in the meeting, I posed the challenge to the room that if I had the time or knowledge to write software, I think the biggest philanthropic coupe of open source software would be to write special education software. IMSA does have the students with the tools and talents to write such software.

At $299 a copy, I am proposing that an open source alternative for Boardmaker needs to be created. To be viable, it needs to be Mac and Windows compatible. It does have to allow for additional plugins. It also should provide features (not in the first release) that go beyond what Boardmaker offers.

I will be honest. I do not have the skills to create such software. I am also not aware of a viable alternative to Boardmaker that might be out there. I am also not slamming the Boardmaker product, but the price is, in my mind, outlandish. I am putting special education software companies on notice that there only needs to be a spark of interest in creating open source solutions to their products, and right now that spark is the price.

If there is a viable option to Boardmaker that is Open Source, I would love to know about it.

Reich: Mend it, don't end it

2007-05-16T00:17:00.001-05:00

Justin Reich offers some nice insight into one of the problems I have come across in my first year as a part of a 1:1 program. That problem is how do you deal with using the laptops in a manner that is not a distraction in the classroom. As I have looked at this issue first hand, I have heard the moans of some of my staff about students who are not on task in class with regards to the assignment; instead students are doing things other than "the lesson." (Had to restrict a student's access today for browsing too many Google videos during a lesson)

He does write a very nice opinion piece here, but there is one major flaw I see in his argument.

The best method for infusing technology into the curriculum is to support a few innovative teachers in developing new courses that use computers to enhance the academic culture of the school. Further financial support can help other teachers borrow best practices from the pioneers.

The problem in this is multifold:

Few innovative teachers... meaning usually the young staff members... the ones without tenure... the ones easily dissuaded by crotchety old tenured staff members. I regret to say that those few innovative teachers are usually shot down when they try to make those early strides and attempt to be visionary. That is not to say that all will be dissuaded, but...
If those few innovative teachers are successful in developing a program you still have to convince the old guard of the staff that this way can work. However, you always have to be ready to answer the question "why do this on a laptop when I can do this on a spiral notebook?" Typically that type of question can stop a discussion dead in its tracks. However, if you get to the point where you are able to sway staff members to the benefits of your plan you still may run into...
Administration. Nothing kills a program or wonderful idea more than if you are not able to come up with the funds to support it, and if you cannot answer the basic question we should always ask... "How does this support learning." Couple that with an administration that last stepped into a classroom back when Reagan was in office (I was in elementary school through his whole Presidency!) and you have the makings of a real downer.

I am not suggesting that Reich is wrong in saying we need to support those innovative teachers. What I am saying is that two sentences in an opinion piece is not giving the whole picture to the groundwork that needs to be laid in order to successfully change minds and break molds. Minds are changed slowly, and molds are rarely ever smashed. Molds are more likely plied back and forth and over time they will snap.

I am still amazed of the polarizing that takes place with laptops.

I have said it once, I will say it again... will this even be an issue in 10 years when laptops will be purchased at Walgreens for less than an electric shaver?

Wow, 12:17AM. Snooze... need more snooze.

XO Overpriced... how about a $10 laptop?

2007-05-08T12:03:00.001-05:00

$10 Laptops in India?

I have been saying it for the last 3 years that 1:1 will not be an issue in schools when you can go to Walgreens and pickup a laptop. That idea may be gaining steam.

It started with the ambitious OLPC project that promises an eventual $100 laptop. However, when India rejected the OLPC project it opened many eyes that this progressive country in the field of education and technology would not want to be an early adopter.

Now word is floating around the the Education Ministry of India is looking to build a laptop for $10!

Yep, $10.

In a country that boasts arguably the world's greatest technical school, the Indian Institute of Technology (where students have MIT as a backup college, and many Ivy League schools clamoring for the rejects), I say this is a real possibility.

Of course, if politics gets in the way...

When MySpace is used by n00bs

2007-05-08T08:34:00.001-05:00

Annie Lennox's girl hit by the Internet gatecrash yobs | the Daily Mail

Yes, I know we have tech savvy kids... or we sometimes think all kids are tech savvy. They are great at navigating the ins and outs of the latest technology, but it is becoming painfully apparent day in and day out that kids are really not be educated in how the real-world can slam into the cyber-world.

It is almost like a generation totally disconnected from reality. Their cyber-world and real-world lives do not seem to be one in the same. This is very much like the Matrix Universe where in one world Neo is godlike, while in the real-world Neo is just a man (well, for 2.75 out of 3 movies).

For those entering into rewriting technology plans or school improvement plans, there needs to be a provision for some sort of Internet safety education. Just like we have sex education and drug education in school, why not use the free resources available through publicly funded groups like i-Safe and incorporate at least a portion of their canned lessons into our schools. It would be healthy for our kids to have a dialogue with adults about their usages of technology, and adults would equally benefit from getting a chance to see into that world.

Dangerously Irrelevant Post

2007-05-08T08:17:00.001-05:00

Are we doing what is best for our students, or are we doing what is most convenient for us?

I think this is what I was ranting about the other day. Should have just wrote this...

Web Stat Mapper

2007-05-06T08:43:00.000-05:00

Over at Google Maps Mania, they posted about a real-time web statistics analyzer that is tied exclusively to your website. Sure enough, I added the code to my blog and my location, browser and browser version popped up on the map. Now, I am no blogger muckety-muck like Jakes or Richardson or Warlick, so my map is a little slow. Those guys may get more of a kick watching their map bounce around with the visitors they get in a day.

NYT: Some Schools Drop Laptop Programs

2007-05-03T22:42:00.001-05:00

Some Schools Drop Laptop Programs - New York Times

There have been some recent revelations in my life as an educator that may be leaning me towards wanting to shut this blog down, or re-purpose it. An article such as this does not help the situation.

Let's go back to why I think laptop programs and 1:1 computing would work in the first place. In my mind, I know the kind of student I am and what I was when I was growing up. I did not always have the latest and greatest technology surrounding me, even though I had very supportive parents who provided me with everything I needed to succeed in life. My father is an aerospace engineer who worked on the Apollo Space Program and F-14 Tomcat. My mother is an artist, chef, educator, real estate agent, salesperson... well you name it, she has done it. She was also a stay at home mom who was always on me to get my work done.

I was a very driven student, as a result. A laptop in my hand would have only extended my learning and my drive to learn. My education was balanced. I participated in plays. I played the tuba right through to college. I read books by Asimov and books by Groening. I cooked, even having a cheesecake I made named after me in the Afro-German Tearoom in Louisville, KY when I was 10 (called 10-year old cheesecake) and later working as a line cook in college. I listen to all forms of music, even today my selection in my car varies from rap to country to disco to everything (I even have been known to switch over to the Tejano stations from time to time). Today, I am amazed at the time I spend reading news articles and browsing Wikipedia late into the night for no reason.

My experiences as a teacher though proved to me very early that not all students shared my same passion for learning or taking advantage of the resources available to them. I was, and still am, shocked at the number of students who readily accept an "F."

I see those same students (not all students) everyday. Those students who are blase about school. Even the laptops do not spark intrigue in learning. Just because something turns on, and lights up, does not mean that a spark will be ignited.

My Uncle Bob, Robert Patrick Pedersen to be exact, is an educator. OK, he isn't just an educator. He is a published educator with degrees from Columbia and experiences in all levels of academia. Though we differ philosophically in many areas we both want the same of our students... for them to learn. When I first started teaching in 1999 I was provided with a cache of computers that needed some TLC. My grandiose plan was to have all those machines functional so I could create a 1:1 desktop environment in my classroom. Very simply I was asked by Uncle Bob...

why?

Why? WHY!?!

Maybe today I am still asking myself that same question.

Is Thomas Friedman's vision of a flat world really that scary? Are we really NOT preparing our students for the 21st century by not giving them laptops? Is what is stated in Did You Know? a prophecy or is it something akin to GM's World Fair Futurama from 1939?

It's late. I am tired. Maybe I will look at this with fresh eyes and mind tomorrow.

The Dark Side of 1:1

2007-05-03T12:45:00.000-05:00

I discovered some interesting files on a student machine today. I had pulled their machine because the filter had been hit a few times. Upon further examination of the machine (doing some Spotlight searches of various words and phrases) I came upon some disturbing personal writings. I did alert the school authorities to the findings and things are now out of my hands.

So, for all the great things 1:1 is, it is equally important to remember that kids are still kids. 1:1 will not cure teenage angst. We cannot allow our students to become so withdrawn with technology that they feel it is their only way to let out their pent up emotions.

Same problems, different medium.

Twitter is important... how?

2007-05-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

I have been playing with Twitter now for about a month. Heard about it and thought, well this is an interesting idea. Let me write down everything that I do during the day so I can backtrack and people can track my day.

Have we become a science experiment? Twitter feels like the next step in the alien tests on the human race. They have learned everything with probes they possibly can, and now they really want to study us on a minute social level.

I will now sound like the 31 year old AARP person in the room.

.... I don't get it. Please educate me, someone! I even tossed this out to some of the guys and gals I work with at Best Buy (a great collection of high school and college students) and even they find themselves at a loss for a use of Twitter.

TigerDirect Mashup

2007-05-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

The problem with purchasing things on the web, especially electronics, is not getting a demo of the product. I cannot say that Tiger Direct has it perfect, but this goes beyond the general specs of the product. Right on the sales page is a YouTube video of the television with the run down of the TV, as well as the biggee for me... what components are on the back. Wonder how long stores like Best Buy will do this? Can this come over to education? Well, how about a message from the Superintendent welcoming you to the website, or giving a state of the district presentation on the site?

Just thinking... man it's late.

Microsoft to OLPC XO

2007-04-28T09:19:00.001-05:00

$175 OLPC deals blow to open source, guarantees Microsoft’s continued dominance | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

The open source geeks just flinched. XP on the XO? Say it ain't so. Reports show this might in fact happen. Microsoft would provide a version of XP called XP Starter and the student version of Office 2007. All that software for $3.

Did I flinch, however, when I first heard this news? I won't say I flinched, but this did catch me by surprise. The specs on the XO doesn't exactly fit with the bloated, virus prone, OS that is XP. I guess Microsoft really wants to get non-pirated copies of XP into the hands of these young users at a low cost, much like how I was raised with the Apple IIE in schools in the early 80s. The emerging markets are a great place to get students used to using Microsoft products.

Now, ultimately, does this negate the mission of the OLPC? Simply, no. The mission of the OLPC is not the laptops. It is not the OS. It is learning. The platform should not matter if learning is the focus. If the OLPC is going to become all about the specs and the software, then the OLPC will fail.

Geeks like me can discuss the specs on the OLPC all we want. The students who are privileged to use these machines however will not care whether the machines are running Linux or XP. From my experience in my 1:1, students today do not focus on the OS. Now with Web 2.0 technologies only requiring a simple web browser to create and produce content, and to communicate with other people, the OS is really starting to become insignificant (unless you want to play certain video games on your PC). In the case of learning, the OS has been insignifcant for sometime. I cannot find the report that says students who work in a pure Windows environment perform better than students in a pure MacOSX environment.

Old Ways 1 - Technology 0

2007-04-26T21:37:00.001-05:00

While working late, I had my XM radio on, and I caught David Radin's Megabyte Minute. One of the stories he clipped was about a recent study that looked at the effectiveness of reading and mathematics software products. According to the study:

Thirty-three districts, 132 schools, and 439 teachers participated in the study. Sixteen products were selected for the study based on public submissions and ratings by a study team and expert review panels.

I guess that is a pretty good sample size. Studies like these are completely out of my realm of expertise, but I try to make heads and tails of this stuff. The two major findings in the study are

Test scores were not significantly higher in classrooms using the reading and mathematics software products than those in control classrooms. In each of the four groups of products-reading in first grade and in fourth grade, mathematics in sixth grade, and high school algebra-the evaluation found no significant differences in student achievement between the classrooms that used the technology products and classrooms that did not.
There was substantial variation between schools regarding the effects on student achievement. Although the study collected data on many school and classroom characteristics, only two characteristics were related to the variation in reading achievement. For first grade, effects were larger in schools that had smaller student-teacher ratios (a measure of class size). For fourth grade, effects were larger when treatment teachers reported higher levels of use of the study product.

This study needs to be discussed at looked at further. All I need now are the Luddites breaking down my door and throwing this study in my face.

Imus should move to Indiana

2007-04-16T13:51:00.001-05:00

Hilden: A Student Who Posted Profanities About Her School Principal on MySpace Wins Before The Indiana Court of Appeals

Could you compare the speech of Don Imus with the speech of this student known only as A.B.? This is not the blog to debate that idea.

However, as a school district, this should make those in charge stand up and take notice. This could be a case that is brought to the Supreme Court of the United States. The article alludes that since this was decided by the appellate court using the Indiana Constitution rules of what is "free speech," not the US, this could see further light should the school district decide to pursue an appeal.

OLPC Tech Talk w/ Google

2007-04-15T12:29:00.000-05:00

Google recently hosted a tech talk at Google and I ran across this just by luck while looking up information on API. This looks like the meat and potatoes of the XO laptop created by OLPC. This is a fantastic tech side overview of the program and what the focus of technology in education should be... that is LEARNING! That is made very clear in the first 5 minutes of this presentation.

Want to try the OLPC XO Interface?

2007-04-14T11:41:00.001-05:00

Emulating the OLPC XO on a Mac (OSX) at edgargonzalez.com

The OLPC interface can be tried out on a Mac. Seems simple enough. Follow the link above for the 3, er 2 steps.

Nigerian students power up their laptops

2007-04-14T11:29:00.001-05:00

Photos: Nigerian students power up their laptops | CNET News.com

The vision of the OLPC program has come to fruition as the first students have received their "$100" laptops. The Nigerians have stepped onto the playing field of technology. With the in-service coming in my district this Tuesday, this will be a photo I will have to share with my staff. I am not sure if they are even aware. I having a feeling that will change in the coming years.

Playing with Garageband 3

2007-04-14T01:21:00.000-05:00

I posted this up to my myspace page, and thought maybe I could put it here. It is my first attempt at a podcast complete with topic snapshots. It is rather irreverent, and tongue-in-cheek. However, I did make my first attempt at Thai a legit try at asking, "where is the bathroom?"

Take a Trip to Thailand

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Google Local Voice Search

2007-04-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

I really don't know how loudly this was launched, but it looks like 411 has gone the way of the do-do bird. Google has just launched a FREE voice local search which I am sure plays into the Google business database.

I tried it out by seeing if it could connect to the best pizza place on the planet, Aurelio's in Lockport(Chicago deep dish is overrated. If I wanted lasagna, I would have lasagna).

First, I am asked the city and state. The computer had trouble understanding Lockport. It first repeated Rockford. Then it said some other suburb I cannot remember now before getting it right.

Then I tried my zip code. That worked just fine. So, maybe in the future I will just use the zip.

It found Aurelio's just fine, but it found the location in Homer Glen on 143rd, not the one in Lockport on 159th.

It then offered to connect my call for me.

I was able to, at any time, use the command "go back" in case the computer missed one of my commands.

Hey, as long as it is free, I am a happy man. What is the pound of flesh Google hopes to gain from this? Information on me, I am sure. They will probably be able to tie together telemarketing ads based on what you search for. Maybe even junk mail. Who knows? Nothing is ever free in a capitalist world, even if it is on the surface.

Editorial: An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?

2007-04-12T15:16:00.001-05:00

An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?

Wow, that is a spicy editorial title. The state of Michigan is already considering a 1:1 laptop program while facing a state deficit of $1 BILLION dollars. It is hard enough to want to get the tax payers to accept a 1:1 program, but now the talk is to an iPod program? Wow. Maybe Michigan could involve themselves in the OLPC Program instead? Using the flash of technology to gain street cred in regards to education is a damning proposition. It will marginalize all legitimate technology endevours (not to say this one might not work, but if Michigan is high on a 1:1 maybe they should stay with that 1:1).

The technology, and the funding, and the "stuff" should be on the periphery. An iPod program better be explained to voters, with concrete demonstrations on HOW this will enhance LEARNING and support the VISION of the state of Michigan is vital!

Radmind v. FileWave

2007-04-11T23:41:00.000-05:00

Might as well say Open Source versus Commercial Distribution. I will, next year, hopefully implement either Radmind or FileWave as a way to distribute software and updates to my machines in my district. Currently, I am piloting Radmind since it is Open Source and freely available. The Apple engineer assigned to my district gave me a solid pitch on FileWave. However, when I went to the NetRestore inservice two weeks ago in DeKalb, when I saw Radmind, I knew I had to sink my teeth into that. However, I am stretched thin as it is and maybe the cost of the software will outweigh the personal satisfaction of killing myself to make this work.

I feel, lately, that I am one step behind the day rather than one step ahead. I have a lot on my plate with my Masters work, BB on the weekends, managing the school district almost single-handedly and preparing a budget for next year and mapping out a new infrastructure for potentially the next 10 years (wireless towers!).

Snooze. Need more snooze.

Blurb to make Books

2007-04-10T21:13:00.001-05:00

I ran across this site that allows you to use your Picassa photos and easily add those into a bookstore quality book you can create using Blurb's software. Haven't played with the software yet, but I have always wanted to make a book of this supposed quality.

OSX and the Google Desktop

2007-04-10T20:32:00.000-05:00

Last week I was presented with the option to download Google Desktop for Mac. Not being one for extra plugins and such running in the background, I was hesitant to add this little program. However, since uninstalling things in a Mac leaves little trace of what was there before (compared to XP) I decided to give this a shot.

Don't tell Steve Jobs, but I like Google Desktop better.

I know I know. I will be wiped from this earth for defying Steve Jobs, but Spotlight is slow compared to Desktop. Plus, it brings up results from the search history in my browser of choice... Firefox (double evil on my part).

Love that Google Reader... and that Google Personalized Page... and Google Pages. If Google made an OS...

One Week Until...

2007-04-10T13:33:00.000-05:00

I am getting excited and nervous all at once as I am hosting my first inservice. The main presenter will be Will Richardson, which seems to be a coup as several people have shown interest in wanting to come to the event. The other presenter who will be doing a breakout session is David Jakes, who is also a phenomenal presenter in his own right. I have worked with David before and I am willing to be a reference for the quality guy that is David Jakes.

In speaking of David, I have to pass along a link he provided me with yesterday. TeacherTube is a YouTube knock-off that is teacher and education specific. From what I can find so far this might be the nice place I can get past the filters and not have to worry about inappropriate content.

NetRestore... finally

2007-04-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

I guess I am a late comer to the party, but I finally (out of necessity) moved away from Apple System Image Utility and have successfully used NetRestore to image an entire lab. I have used NetRestore in the past, but only to do one machine at a time. Mike Bombich has put together a very nice product that is customizable to however deep you want to go.

Now, I say that I moved to NetRestore out of necessity because when there was an upgrade from OS X 10.4.8 to 10.4.9 the ability to create an image with Apple System Image Utility went out the window. I came up with a whole bunch of errors. Bombich was quick to see the problem and fix it. I am still waiting for the patch from Apple.

Now, I am trying to figure out how to multicast the restoration of machines. I think I am missing a step. I followed these instructions, but am missing something I am sure. The multicast stream starts up fine, but the clients cannot connect to the server. Very very odd. Do I need to create an ASR MultiCast NetInstall master file? I don't know.

Macbook Yeas and Woes

2007-03-12T10:20:00.000-05:00

For all the beauty that is the Macbook, I have some thoughts from the front lines of probably the most brutal users. The brutal users you ask? Sixth graders.

Yeas
1. Speed - The Macbook is fast. Way fast. Compared to a G3 or G4 there is no comparison
2. Keyboard - The keyboard has held up very well. I have only had to service one Macbook with a keyboard problem (the space bar popped off).
3. Rubber feet - The rubber feet have held up very well. No issues with feet missing.

Woes
1. Webcam - Yeah, it is great, but admins don't want the students to have access to it. I had to disable it by breaking the software, only to have it fix itself during an update. I wish there was a way to disable it from WGM or in the OS itself.
2. LCD Brackets - I have had to send in 8 Macbooks this year with popped LCD brackets. I have had 0 G3 or G4 iBooks with popped brackets.
3. Tiny screws - Wow, tons of tiny screws all around the Macbook. And yes, they do slowly unscrew just through movement and use.
4. Keyboard bevel - The bevel which people rest their hands is prone to cracking and prying up. I try to find abuse in these cases, but only had one case of abuse, and that was from a parent actually trying to fix the bevel from coming up.

So far the Macbook is a very good product. The design aspects could be addresses, especially the brackets. Maybe have some sort of limiter to opening the Macbook would be best since it seems the bracket pops when the LCD is opened too far (but still has some give). Also, the cracking of the keyboard bevel could be reduced by removing the bumpers at the top of the LCD screen which close down on the bevel.

Welcome to the High Holy Days

2007-03-02T09:23:00.000-06:00

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. Let's get ready to celebrate!

Wiki Workshop Reflections

2007-03-01T09:36:00.000-06:00

Well, my 2 day workshop on building a wiki server has come and gone. Here are some reflections:

1. Though I really wanted to have people come in with their own PCs or MACs to complete this project, the iBooks put us all on the same page, and made the overall workshop less cumbersome. With the same machines came the same successes and problems.

2. The major problem with the G4 was the server installation of Ubuntu did not recognize the G4's wireless network card. When I put my presentation together, I had done everything on a G3 iBook. The wireless card was recognized out of the box. Add to that after we installed a GUI onto the server for easier manipulation by the Linux n00bs, the mouse pad was painfully underperforming, so an external usb mouse was a plus.

3. Though people did not get to install Linux on their systems at the conference, I know some went home that night, downloaded the PC ISO and installed it at home.

4. The tech support was phenominal at the conference. When the wireless cards would not be recognized, the support staff flew into action by bringing a Cisco Catalyst Switch, running ethernet cable and hard wiring all the machines.

5. I want a DS3. 45Mbps is the way to go. When we started downloading all the tweaks and files for our servers, I was shocked to notice that most people were hitting 500kbps. I thought there was a problem with the servers themselves. Kudos to the bandwidth. (It also allowed David Pogue's keynote to be webcast live in pristine video quality)

6. It might be worthwhile to include phpESP installation as part of the workshop. People are always looking to run surveys. This would be the way to go. A free way to collect data is phenominal. We did do this at the end of our session, though I was unprepared for the Gettext problem we were having. Maybe it was because php 5 was running on these systems, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it only works with php 4. More research...

7. Didn't get too many chuckles when I posted my picture of me in my kilt on my wiki server homepage. Must have been a classly, educated crowd with whom I was working (the participants were FANTASTIC!).

8. With all the passwords and usernames and configs and different locations things are put on this unfamiliar environment for people (Linux) it would be worthwhile to provide a worksheet that has blanks for people to fill in their usernames, passwords and locations of their files. Sure, they used a lot of CLI to locate their files (faster than Spotlight and Live Search), but towards the end there was a lot of confusion in regards to /var/www/ and /etc/ and the like.

I am anticipating the response to the workshop. I think I was the only 2 day workshop. I am sure I will have more later.

Mac OS X Server Administrator Topics: Creating Mail Account Bundles

2007-02-22T11:58:00.000-06:00

Mac OS X Server Administrator Topics: Creating Mail Account Bundles

I was troubled by having to walk people through, step by step, on how to setup their email accounts. Now, all my users have to do is enter their shortname and their password. The mail bundle has all the port tweaks and authentication settings already built in.

5 Blogging Methods That Work » Net Business Blog

2007-02-21T10:55:00.000-06:00

5 Blogging Methods That Work » Net Business Blog

Here's a blog about 5 blogging methods. I blogged it.