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The Mic IS on: We're Talking About What 21st Century Schools Should Be

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

The Mic Is On

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

An Apple for the Teacher Means Something Different

Once an apple for the teacher was gift of fruit for her desk. Should it now be a Macintosh Pro that will offer her resources and connectedness better than any school librarian might concieve of offering?

Computers, cell phones, and Internet apps … kids are learning in new ways from their interaction with new technology. What should 21st Century School be doing?

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And, whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring example links to share —

–ME “Liz” Strauss
image: sxc.hu
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What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Comments

  7. I’m awesomely busy with projects and such. Conspiring with the usual suspects and a few others. heh heh

    Just completed a huge launch.

    Trying to finalize the SOBCon2010 program. 🙂

    Reply

  11. Hi everyone!

    I think the best thing any parent can do for their schools is get involved! My children are all out of school now, but I worked on a lot of committees when they were in school, and it was like pulling teeth to get parents involved….until things were over and the complainers came out of the woodwork *grin*

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  14. I was talking with some fellow higher ed folks today, including the dean of a school of ed, and one constant in our conversation was the need to have competency-based education — teaching and learning that are measured by the success with which students can demonstrate competency with a subject matter, not just learning how to do the test right.

    Reply

  15. I am interested in parents perspective on privacy. We are creating a children’s Virtual World for ages 10-14. We are looking at using facebook Connect as one of the conduits. I know many children who are not at the correct age to be on FB, but have an account.

    What do you think?

    Reply

  17. #12 Definitely not enough about relationships, of all sorts, and decision making – those are more soft skills. Probably easier to teach about technology.

    My fear is the need for books will disappear. How many kids nowadays curl up with a book for hours?

    Reply

  19. #15
    What’s your question exactly?

    I know from education publishing that you’ll never get every parent to like everything. Schools always play to the safest side. They have to.

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  20. Glenda, I think there will always be a need for “books” but they may be in electronic form. I can see value in that for subjects that need frequent updating, like history or science. Much easier than throwing away a bunch of paper textbooks that still discuss the USSR.

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  21. Glenda, in the mediation world we use the shorthand of “The 4th R” to reference the missing 4th item in the “reading, writing, ‘rithmetic” list — relationships. I think a lot of folks in my field would say that’s key and we wish curriculum valued the soft skills like that more. When I teach “interpersonal conflict resolution” to grad students, one of the most frequent comments is, “Why am I __ years old and just learning this now? I needed this 20 years ago!”

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  24. Liz (#23), I don’t know that leaving it up to the politicians works. Will they get it enough to get behind it and risk the next election? I think this is one of those things that benefits from people banding together and making a movement out of their strong desires for something to change. And influencing the people who are preparing tomorrow’s teachers — the undergraduate and graduate schools of education at colleges throughout the country.

    Reply

  29. We are fortunate to live in a school district that always passes bond issues, but many districts are not so fortunate. Of course the schools have to show good results to gain the support of the people in their district.

    It’s a conundrum, as teachers and administrators feel they have to show good test scores, so the teach to the test.

    I wish there was a better metric for judging how good of an education students are actually getting.

    And I think you are all right about needing to teach more than just “book learnin'”. Many young people DO need assistance with relationship and decision-making skills.

    Reply

  35. Check out the Open High School of Utah…http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/499

    I think of knowledge as global…we can use technology to access knowledge anywhere. Learning on the other hand is local and that is where students need guidance. Certification of knowledge can be independent of both knowledge and learning.

    Paul

    Reply

  36. #33
    Well, if a program is outside of the curriculum people don’t take it so much as a mandate or an intrusion into what their children should be taught.

    They think of it more like “Sesame Street.”

    So what if we started something like Internet Relationship Program … got great minds involved. etc.

    Reply

  38. Glenda, I think there will always be people (like me) who LOVE printed books, and will still have home libraries. I don’t see public libraries being all-electronic for a very long time to come.

    I am a bit distrustful of electronic books myself, particularly after the Amazon Kindle scandal where they deleted copies of Orwell’s books (still find that so ironic *grin*).

    I see now that they are “restoring” the books to the Kindle owners, but I prefer buying and owning a bound, printed-on-paper book that I know is mine forever once it’s inside my home. It can’t be altered, edited or taken away from me (unless they pry it from my cold, dead fingers *grin*)

    Reply

  39. Liz (#36) – very cool thinking. Could be pretty amazing.

    Marti (#38) – I’ve always been a print book lover and a bit of Kindle curmudgeon. Until my older sister developed macular degeneration and could no longer read (and she’d owned bookstores, so reading was a major pleasure in her life). I bought her a Kindle and it kind of saved reading for her because she can blow the print up to massive size. Her experience reminded me again of the power of technology to improve lives and give access.

    Reply

  42. Electronic books is going to be a cost issue. Districts won’t be able to afford paper books anymore.

    As far as something being outside the curriculum…here in Michigan the odds of it getting into the schools if it is outside the required GLKS – Grade Level Content Expectations – is almost zero. They teach to the test big time.

    Reply

  43. Hi Paul! “Knowledge is global, learning is local” is an excellent point! What happens when the local school district fails their students though? (I mean administratively, not giving the student an “F”)

    Reply

  44. Yeah, Paul,
    Can’t really blame teachers for teaching to the test. The reason I didn’t was because it’s so boring to do that.

    But folks afraid of succeeding hang tightly to those guidelines — I saw the same thing at ad:tech … the advertisers and brand people are analyzing “consumers” down to our DNA rather than talking to us.

    Reply

  45. Hi Marti… Isn’t the local district under the control of the elected local board which reports to the voters.

    We just don’t take the control we have.

    That is – unless other states are different than Michigan.

    Reply

  46. Paul,

    Will electronic books be a challenging cost? I’m thinking of the latest TWiG (This Week in Google) podcast with folks like Matt Cutts and Leo LaPorte talking about Google’s book scanning project — we’re talking millions of books. I think we can’t even quite imagine yet what “reading” will be like even 5 years from now.

    Heck, I’m betting I’ll be able to send my holograph to sit in a classroom in Stockholm in 5 years, interact with the other real and holographic people in the room there!

    Reply

  47. #39 Tammy – yes, I can see how the Kindle, with its ability to enlarge the font at the touch of a button is a valuable service for vision-impaired folks. My thoughts go out to your sister for her impairment. What a horrible fate for a book lover!

    I understand there was supposed to be a voice function on the Kindle where it would “read” the book to you but I don’t know if that is still in place, as there was an uproar from publishers of audio books.

    Reply

  48. #46 Paul – Yes, I live in Missouri, and each district here has it’s own school board.

    Unfortunately, many of those boards get caught up in personal and political fights (which they should be adult enough to avoid, but I suppose that’s human nature). I don’t know how to fix that 🙂

    There is a sad lack of parental involvement in many districts (even the “good” ones)so you are correct,“We just don’t take the control we have.”

    Reply

  50. Hi folks! I’ve been out of school 20 years now, and usually feel OLD when my niece (college) and nephew (high school) start talking about school.

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  51. Speaking of curling up with books, all three of my kids love books with a bath– train ’em up early and they’ll love books! The local library is our second home.

    Reply

  53. Marti and Paul, why do you think parents don’t get involved so much anymore? Lack of habit? Working couples? Too frustrating? Too little time? Bowling alone (referencing a terrific book on that last one)? Other?

    Reply

  55. You could probably already go to school through your avatar in Second Life. (holograph)

    I do think we have to build education around existing technology not new technology. Kindle is nice but almost all kids already have a cell phone. Why not use that technology?

    Reply

  58. Paul, yes there are colleges and universities doing that now, even graduation ceremonies in Second Life. Me, I want something “real-er”!

    I agree about the phone comment – let’s figure out how to tap into what students already have. There are college professors having students use Twitter on their cell phones to discuss and interact with data in class. That kind of thing.

    Reply

  60. Backing up a bit…Deb…I used to feel left out of learning too but then I discovered the hidden learning potential of Twitter.

    Now I have organizational leaders depending on me to send them critical new information because I’ve put together such a great list of people to follow. I know about life and death issues for their organizations long before they do. It is pretty cool.

    Reply

  62. Hi Deb!

    Hi Karen!

    #52 Glenda, I guess the audio publishers were afraid that text-to-voice would lose them some customers for their audio books. I know it’s not the same, but I remember reading that they put up a big stink about it. Does anyone here have a kindle? Does it have a text-to-voice feature? All I recall is the argument, not sure how it was resolved.

    #53 I know when I would call parents begging them to get involved, there were always tons of excuses….they were too busy, too tired after both parents working all day (sometimes at two jobs). A surprising number of them bluntly said, “I send my kids to school and pay my taxes and that’s enough”

    Reply

  66. Marti–I do NOT have a Kindle but I keep lusting after one. Especially since I’m having to downsize (sniffle) my library, making me (1) sad and (2) afraid to buy any new books!

    Reply

  71. Paul, you are not butting in! Some of us have been coming to Open Mike Night for years now, but we are delighted to have new folks join us! Please stay and come back every week!

    Not to be stepping on Liz’ toes as the hostess, I just meant to welcome you 🙂

    Reply

  73. Got to see who’s burning up the stage on America’s Got Talent. Thanks for letting me join in… Good topic.

    Reply

  74. LOL to Liz on my “paranormal” talk. I can’t help it, it slips in without me knowing it, due to my interest and writing that novel which is available on Amazon /end self-promo

    *grin*

    Karen, thanks for asking. It’s been 15 months since his stroke. He is stable, his disabilities are at about the same level. He still exercises every day hoping to improve the limp and his left arm’s limited mobility.

    Reply

  86. Marti, seriously–Susan is the nicest person and her goats are dearly loved, fiber-producing goats. She’s looking for the best possible home for them and I think she’ll send them anywhere in the country. You should SO look into that! Her goats are almost as nice as she is–I’ve met them! (Heck, I’ve seen some of them born, live on the internet. I even got to name one of them)

    Reply

  87. Yes Deb, Friday is 9/11. Did anyone else here participate in the 2996 project? Bloggers picked a name of someone who died that day and wrote a tribute. I got my reminder a few days ago, here is the address if you’re interested. It’s a sad yet uplifting experience to write a tribute. Here’s what it said:

    Project 2,996 is still alive and kicking. It’s new web address is project2996.wordpress.com

    Tomorrow is 09/09/09, which is supposed to be a very lucky day!

    Reply

  88. I remember on the first anniversary of 9/11, nobody quite knew what to do with it–treat it like a holiday/remembrance day? Like any other day? A day of mourning? Now it’s almost like any other day.

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  99. Especially since my spinning wheel is PORTABLE! Actually, I have two, both designed to be carried around. (Well, brought to new places, you still need to sit to spin. If you want to walk and spin, you need to use a drop spindle. And yes, I have some of those, too.)

    Reply

  104. Glenda I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear (smacks forehead)

    We were talking about 9/11, and I mentioned the 2996 project. Bloggers select a name from the website here:

    http://project2996.wordpress.com/

    Then the blogger writes a tribute to that person who lost their life that day. It sounds morbid but it’s a really nice way to keep their memory alive.

    Reply

  106. About time for me to head out too.

    Deb, I will check out your additional pictures – thank you for sharing!

    Liz, delightful as always.

    Deb, Glenda, Karen and the earlier participants – I hope you all have a wonderful evening. Peace and joy to all!

    Reply

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