4-day School Week

There’s been a lot of news lately about schools considering 4-day school weeks. The interest is in consideration of rising gas prices and the rising availability of online educational resources. On the extreme side, VolState has launched a Full-Time Friday’s program, that has college student’s coming in once a week (Friday) for a possible 13+ hour plus day, coupled with their online courses. The idea of a 4-day school week has been met with both acceptance (Tiny Rich School District in Utah, for example) and opposition (Missouri State Board of Education), and both sides have great merit.

On the one hand, a shorter week means less fuel and energy costs; People would spend less money of gas, and the schools would pay less to run the school, all the meanwhile positively contributing to reducing their imprint on the environment.

On the other, a shorter week comes with longer days that are actually in session. The MO State BOE, for example, makes a great point when considering familes, schedules, and exhausting days for students.

What’s your take on creative scheduling? Are you considering moving to a shorter school/work week? What are your considerations? Are the economic and environmental benefits of a shorter week worth the potential inconvenience of children and families? Or do you feel, if implemented, it must be optional rather than mandatory?

« Renting Textbooks

Renting Textbooks

Interesting new company, Skoobit, allows students to literally rent textbooks for about $10.00 a month, saving kids a bundle on books. Hope they get into “renting” e-book versions of these texts, too. Although I have to imagine if they did, copyright and ownership lawsuits would fly without partnerships with publishers.

But to me, it begs the question: Is there a such thing as ‘used’ digital media? Websites like Freecycle.org, Craigslist, and even eBay have people hawking used books and CDs. Can someone do that with a digital file they don’t need or want anymore? Maybe if the file couldn’t be copied?

4-day School Week »« Inspirational or Exploitation?

Inspirational or Exploitation?

So, a fella I follow on Twitter twittered this the other day and I wanted to share:

http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=1502

Watch it, read it, etc.

I’m all about education. and I’m all about supporting kids’ dreams and helping them realize unlimited potential. And this speech by this child is delivered so well! Very well! I agree with 100% everything he says! After I saw this video I wanted to run out, grab a kid and shake him yelling “I believe! For the love of God I believe!” but I didn’t because… something doesn’t feel right, right?

I get the weird, un-easy feeling that this kid is being used as a pawn.. something about it just doesn’t sit well with me. It’s like, he’s a little too good at this. Like, maybe he also works at sea world on the weekends to get the crowd ready, or warms up Conan’s late night audience, or something. I doubt he wrote that speech, but delivered by him, it does a great job on impact. Does it matter that he might not have written it? Or has he been exploited to push someone else’s agenda? Is it still exploitation if the ‘agenda’ is ‘care about your students’?

I don’t know, does anybody else think it’s weird? Am I missing the point? (one of the comments on the blog raises a good point, though – who brings an air horn to a district assembly??). The whole thing reminds me of when Cartman is asked by Rob Reiner to star in an anti-smoking commercial, right? http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154283/

What do you think?

Renting Textbooks »« Beyond iPhone

Beyond iPhone

With all the attention on the iPhone in education, I’ve felt the chatter has been relatively quiet with regards to other developments in mobile technology.

Take, for example, the Amazon’s Kindle. This is an ereading device that weighs about 10 oz, connects to the EVDO network without monthly data fees (Amazon pays for that), displays Word docs and pictures, can download and subscribe to blogs, newspapers, magazines, and textbooks and requires absolutely no syncing or computer whatsoever.

While many techies are quick to comment on what the Kindle lacks, or why it’s not perfect, let’s talk about how this device could be used in education today and in the future.

Have you picked up a standard textbook lately? They’re huge, heavy (.pdf), bulky, and expensive to both print and purchase. I’d like to see more traditional higher-ed publishers make their texts fully compatible with the Kindle for a fraction of the price of a standard text. Possibly enable the device to receive campus news or course supplemental resource sites, institution libraries, or even participate in classroom polls and pop-quizzes, all with one light-weight device that’s about 80% lighter than a 3lbs standard textbook.

What if I told you about two portable devices not widely used in education that support synchronous and asynchronous communication, handwriting and speech recognition, flash, java, and a web browser all for under $200 and is currently owned by tens of millions of users worldwide? That’s exactly what the Nintendo DS and Sony Playstation Portable can offer, and I look forward to seeing how these tools can be implemented in traditional and online education. A Japanese school teacher has already made some impressive strides with the DS, and the Nintendo-owned MLB team Seattle Mariners are using the DS in another interesting way.

Although, years away from actually producing anything tangible, Nokia and Cambridge University’s nanotechnology project called Morph looks pretty flippin’ awesome. Can you imagine strapping a light phone to your wrist a la Dick Tracy to get your calls, email, pics, coursework, videos, announcements and more?

While the iPhone is no doubt an exciting and amazing device with a world of application within the schoolyard, let’s not lose track of other available options that may be easier to implement, cost effective, and farther reaching.

Inspirational or Exploitation? »« iPhone in Education

iPhone in Education

A friend of mine pointed me to this Ars Technica article regarding a Texas university’s decision to provide iPhones and (or?) iPod Touches to incoming freshmen as an educational device. While this sounds pretty sweet, is it a matter of finding a solution to a need, or rather using an axe to catch a fly?

I do think that mobile devices will and should (and do) have a natural home in education. Rave Wireless, for example, helps colleges implement mobile strategies for campus email, announcements, coursework, and even campus security and bus schedules by issuing standard phones with custom applications. In-class surveys or heightened participation and engagement are now completely feasible through mobile technology.

Also, Apple’s iPod in Education and iTunes U programs promote using the iPod products for educational podcasts and slideshows. The iPhone may be a natural fit within institutions as it allows for unprecedented access to the Internet, messaging, and custom applications, as well as iTunes itself.

However, while including the iPhone in tuition seems like a nice offer, I’d rather see the iPhone (or any mobile communication requirement) be optional, rather than mandatory, and offer a Student Success tuition reduction for those who opt-in. By requiring students to purchase these devices, tuition will inevitably go up, pushing students further into debt.

Students who opt-in ultimately show an interest in increased communication with their school, which can be interpreted as a success indicator. By encouraging opt-in through tuition reduction, retention may be positively affected through enhanced interaction with the institution and appropriate resources.

Thoughts?

Beyond iPhone »« Blended Learning…

Blended Learning…

Great excerpt from Inside HigherEd interview w/ the authors of Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines. A bit old (11/07), but it’s important to keep these types of positive hybrid and distance education arguments in our pockets and consider them when reexamining current (read: outdated) education infrastructures.

Q: Skeptics of the increased use of technology to supplant more traditional teaching methods might wonder how to achieve what you call “active engagement” in a blended learning environment. That is, what is “presence,” and how can instructors engage students who are spending part of their time for the course online? Can online tools replace the classical lecturer — or is that besides the point?

A: Considering the large lecture classes and financial constraints of higher education, the use of innovative designs that include technology are the only way to provide more engaged learning opportunities. We talk in the book about communities of inquiry to enhance student engagement. It is virtually impossible to engage students in purposeful and meaningful inquiry without the Internet and communication technologies to precipitate and sustain discourse that is central to higher order learning. Well-designed blended learning can be a much more engaged and meaningful learning experience than sitting passively in a lecture hall. It is interesting that of the three presences in the Community of Inquiry framework, there may well be enhanced cognitive and even teaching presence online. While there may be some advantages of a face-to-face context for social presence at the start of a course, online interpersonal communication offers possibilities not possible in an online context. In short, we believe the lecture should be largely replaced by more engaged face-to-face and online learning experiences. This is the potential and goal of blended learning.

iPhone in Education »